"We can come suddenly one night," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated, a slogan he adopted for lightning counterterrorism operations. The well-known verse from a classical Turkish song reverberates in the capital, Ankara, after Sunday’s terrorist attack by the PKK, which injured two police officers guarding a building of the Interior Ministry. The incident at the heart of the capital, on a day when top politicians flocked to the nearby Parliament for the start of a new session, highlighted the danger of terrorism in big cities.

As he addressed the Parliament hours after the attack, Erdoğan implied new counterterrorism operations beyond Türkiye’s borders were imminent. Though Erdoğan occasionally signals such operations, no comprehensive land offensive has been conducted abroad in the past few years. Türkiye often taps into precision strikes by intelligence units and drones are at the forefront of the counterterrorism fight for PKK members holed up in Iraq and Syria. But a comprehensive land operation, with more boots on the ground, has been ruled out for a long time.

Erdoğan said that Türkiye mostly solved the "separatist terrorism problem" within its borders after it cost "a heavy humane and economic toll for four decades," and they desired to eliminate this source of threat by eradicating the existence of the terrorist group abroad "a troublesome burden imperialists gave on people of the region."

"We are preparing to advance our historical, political and military accomplishments in the past years. We will resolutely continue our fight against terrorism until the last terrorist is eliminated, be it in our country or abroad. We will not allow the terrorist group to change the political agenda and hinder the march of our country," he said. For Erdoğan, the attack in Ankara was the final flutter of the terrorist group and they failed to achieve what they set out to do.

He stated that Türkiye would maintain its strategy of a 30-kilometer (19-mile) deep "security strip" beyond its southern borders with Syria and Iraq and that "new steps" on this were a matter of time. "Never forget this: we can come suddenly one night," a remark echoed by Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, a career commander, as he answered reporters’ questions about Erdoğan’s remarks on Sunday.

Türkiye has stepped up military action against the PKK in northern Iraq over the last few years in operations conducted under self-defense rights arising from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States, Britain and the European Union. It launched a campaign of violence in southeast Türkiye in 1984, and more than 40,000 people have been killed as a result.

Türkiye renewed its counterterrorism campaign in the past decade after a brief lull. In Iraq, it launched the Claw Sword operation in 2022 to eliminate terrorists hiding in mountainous regions of northern Iraq. The offensive still continues with occasional precision strikes and "retaliation" strikes against terrorists opening harassment fire or trying to infiltrate into Türkiye to carry out attacks. Similarly, the Turkish army regularly responds to attacks from Syria’s north, partly controlled by PKK’s Syria wing, the YPG. In 2017, it launched Operation Euphrates Shield in coordination with the Syrian opposition forces in Syria’s north. It cleared out PKK terrorists in a region between Afrin and Manbij, further driving PKK/YPG to Syria’s northeast. One year later, it conducted Operation Olive Branch in another push against the terrorist group. Finally, in 2019, Operation Peace Spring took place to create a "safe zone" near the Turkish-Syrian border where terrorists often target Turkish towns on the other side of the border.

Increased production of unmanned aerial vehicles and bolstered capacity of a professional army helped Türkiye to achieve its counterterrorism targets. At the same time, the PKK/YPG in Syria enjoys support from the U.S. in the form of training and military equipment. In Iraq, Türkiye faces occasional retorts by the Baghdad government opposing Turkish airstrikes while steering clear of openly declaring PKK a terrorist group.

Though borders are largely secured, their sheer length makes it difficult to control them fully. So, securing the Syrian side of the border is more significant for Türkiye. Experts say a land operation in Syria is more feasible. As Erdoğan pointed out, the terrorist group is desperate to prove its might, however low it is. Senior cadres of the group eliminated in drone-backed operations force others to find new hiding places. A land offensive is expected to drive those in Iraq to Syria and those in Syria to Iraq in case of any operation in one of those two countries. The Syrian-Iraqi border is less secure for infiltrations and Turkish security sources say it is well-documented that terrorists in both countries traveled to Iraq and Syria and vice versa in the past.

Although Erdoğan’s remarks of a new operation are not viewed as something new, the timing appears more feasible now as the autumn sets in, limiting the movement of terrorists. An offensive in Syria seems more plausible as Iraq’s rugged terrain limits the chances of success for a land operation. The presence of the terrorist group is also closer to the Turkish side of the border, making an operation a better option to prevent immediate threats.

Kemal Olçar, an international affairs expert, told A Haber on Sunday that the terrorist group "piled up" its munitions in Syria's Tal Rifaat and this may be a potential target. He also pointed out parts of Manbij that the terrorist group controls. "A new operation can fully eradicate the PKK’s capacity there," he said. Olçar said simultaneous operations can also be held in Iraq’s north. "It will prove how determined Türkiye is in this fight," he said.