Türkiye's planned ground operation against the terrorist groups in northern Syria can be launched anytime, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Tuesday.
Speaking during a televised interview on A Haber, Kalın said that Türkiye won't get permission from anyone. "Operations can be done in different ways. It could be tomorrow, next week or anytime. Türkiye will determine the time, place and scope," Kalın added.
"The Istiklal attack completely changed the process... No matter where it comes from, we continue to work to end this threat. Our operations will continue," he warned.
Kalın also underlined that Türkiye's three previous operations have prevented a terror corridor being established between northern Iraq and the Eastern Mediterranean.
"Our President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) has called for a safe zone for world leaders since the (former U.S. President Barack) Obama administration. If it had been a safe zone (30 kilometers deep), there would have been neither such migration nor terrorist attacks," he said.
Türkiye is committed to destroying the PKK terrorist group until its last terrorist is eliminated, President Erdoğan said on Monday.
"The terrorist organization, which has suffered great losses in operations Türkiye carried out along its southern borders, showed its dirty face by shedding the blood of innocents with its mortar attacks on civilian settlements on our borders," said Erdoğan, referring to cross-border terror attacks last week from YPG/PKK terrorists in Syria into southern Türkiye.
"We repeat once again our commitment to destroy the terrorist group that murdered a 5-year-old boy and a 22-year-old teacher in the attack in Gaziantep's (border) district of Karkamış, until its last militant is neutralized," Erdoğan said after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.
Erdoğan said Türkiye's determination to establish a 30-kilometer-deep (18.6-mile-deep) security strip next to its borders continues, something it previously sought to do with the United States and Russian cooperation on its southern border. Turkish officials have complained that Washington and Moscow failed to uphold their ends of the deal.
"We do not need to get permission from anyone while taking steps concerning the security of our homeland and our people, and we will not be held accountable to anyone," Erdoğan added.
Stressing that no one will force Türkiye to any position against its own interests in political, diplomatic, economic and military terms through "empty threats," the president also said no one should be disturbed by Türkiye's military operations aimed at expanding the circle of security and peace.
"We do not have to tolerate the hypocrisy of those who support registered terrorist groups with name-changing games," Erdoğan said.
Ankara has long claimed that terrorism has no religion, language, race or nationality, and it is not possible to fight a terrorist group by supporting another terrorist group.
Recently, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing, the YPG, which have illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on Turkish soil.
The country's air operation followed a PKK/YPG terrorist attack on Nov. 13 on Istanbul's crowded Istiklal Street that killed six people and left 81 injured.
After the air operation was launched, Erdoğan also signaled a ground operation to northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terrorist threat, adding, "This is not limited to just an air operation."
The president specified northern Syria's YPG-controlled Tal Rifaat, Manbij and Ain al-Arab (Kobani) regions as possible targets to clear of terrorists.
The Turkish leader has threatened a new military operation into northern Syria since May and upped those threats in the wake of this month's attack. Erdoğan has repeatedly called for a 30-kilometer safe zone to protect Türkiye against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory.
"We know the identity, location and track record of the terrorists. We also know very well who patronizes, arms and encourages terrorists," Erdoğan also recently said, implying the U.S. support for the YPG.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the United States, Türkiye and the European Union, and Washington's support for its Syrian affiliate has been a major strain on bilateral relations with Ankara. The PKK/YPG has controlled much of northeastern Syria after the forces of Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad withdrew in 2012. The U.S. primarily partnered with PKK/YPG terrorists in northeastern Syria in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group. On the other hand, Türkiye strongly opposed the PKK/YPG's presence in northern Syria.
Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the PKK/YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns. Underlining that one cannot support one terrorist group to defeat another, Türkiye conducted its counterterrorism operations throughout, removing a significant number of terrorists from the region.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
