Türkiye will take necessary steps against terrorists and will not allow any terrorist group on its southern borders, a statement released after National Security Council (MGK) meeting said Thursday.
The MGK, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital Ankara, focused on the potential ground operation targeting terrorists in Syria.
Noting that the only target of the Turkish military's counterterrorism operations on its southern borders is the terrorist groups, the MGK statement highlighted that the meeting informed the council about ongoing and planned operations against all terrorist groups.
The statement also noted that Türkiye will not tolerate some actors, which frequently employ lies and defamation against the country, to target Turkish security forces.
Last month, President Erdoğan signaled a ground operation in northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terrorist threat, adding that Türkiye will not remain silent against terrorism.
His remarks came after Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the terrorist group PKK and its Syrian branch YPG, which has illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on Turkish soil.
Support for TRNC
Meanwhile, the MGK statement also reiterated Ankara's support for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Turkish Cypriots, as it called on Greece to support the militarization of islands with demilitarized status.
Türkiye expects Greece, which has been indifferent to Ankara's calls for dialogue, to end its violation of islands with demilitarized status, the statement underscored.
Ankara says Greece has been building a military presence in violation of treaties that guarantee the unarmed status of the Aegean islands. It argues the islands were ceded to Greece on the condition they remained demilitarized.
Athens counters that the islands, which have been garrisoned for decades and lie within close striking distance of a large Turkish landing fleet, can't be left undefended.
Starting from the Treaty of London in 1913, the militarization of the eastern Aegean islands was restricted and their demilitarized status was confirmed with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. The Lausanne pact established a political balance between the two countries by harmonizing vital interests, including those in the Aegean. The 1947 Treaty of Paris, which ceded the Dodecanese islands from Italy to Greece, also confirmed their demilitarized status.
Since the 1960s, 21 of the 23 islands with non-military status have been armed by Greece. Among the armed islands are Crete, Lemnos, Chios, Samos, Kos, Rhodes and Lesbos. Determined not to compromise its rights and interests, Ankara says it will maintain its stance on the agenda by drawing attention to the fact that the islands, which should have non-military status, have been armed.
Besides the Lausanne and Paris agreements, Greece is acting against international law by keeping armed forces in the eastern Aegean islands, including the six-state decisions of 1914 and another agreement signed in 1932.