Türkiye is grappling with the aftermath of PKK attacks on a military outpost in Iraq’s north last week. Twelve soldiers were killed in the spate of two days in the deadliest attack the terrorist group carried out in recent years against the Turkish army.

Touching upon Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye was paying the price due to "its location," but they would not be deterred. "We faced challenges for more than a century, from Çanakkale to Sarıkamış, and we made a great sacrifice," Erdoğan told a gathering of muhtars, local administrators of neighborhoods and villages, at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara on Thursday. He was referring to Türkiye’s struggle in World War I, which ended with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and paved the way for the War of Independence.

"Throughout the history of the republic, our fight for independence and future did not end. Our adversaries, who surface with new scenarios, new appearances in every era, have pursued a sinister plot through the PKK for the past 40 years," Erdoğan said.

"They aim to wipe out our nation, but they failed to achieve their ambition. They did not give up. As the administration of this country for the past 21 years, we paid the price on behalf of the nation and is still paying it," the president said.

The PKK, although recognized as such by Europe and the United States, still receives support from abroad, including from Washington, which openly supplies the Syria wing of the PKK under the guise of a fight against Daesh, while in Europe, supporters of the PKK are given free space to stage rallies.

Erdoğan highlighted that Türkiye’s red lines included territorial integrity and unity, and they would never allow them to be harmed. The PKK claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule in Türkiye’s southeast.

"The past six or seven years were successful in terms of counterterrorism. At a time of deteriorating climate of security (in the world), we carried out the most successful counterterrorism operations. Yes, we had 12 martyrs last week. But what happened next? We buried 59 terrorists in three days," Erdoğan said, referring to Turkish security forces' retaliatory strikes targeting the PKK.

Erdoğan also reiterated Türkiye’s new counterterrorism concept, wiping out terrorism at its source and operations to that extent in Türkiye’s southern borders. "We disrupted the imperialist plot aiming to surround Türkiye through its southern borders. We continue our operations and are not allowing terrorists to stain our lands," he said.

The president recounted how terrorist attacks in the past claimed lives in Türkiye’s mountains and military bases, adding that they were now "destroying terrorists in their own bases, their caves."

"If the terrorism is near extinction today, it is due to operations carried out in Iraq and Syria," Erdoğan underlined.

He noted that Turkish intelligence was also carrying out strikes in Syria’s north, destroying the resources of the PKK and that they will continue operations.

"By God’s will, terrorists will not be able to walk freely (near the Turkish borders)," he said.

The president lamented the opposition’s stance on counterterrorism. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) came under fire for not joining other parties to condemn the terrorist attacks and blamed security failures for the attacks. Erdoğan said those critics were serving as the mouthpiece of the PKK.

"You cannot find such opposition (to counterterrorism) elsewhere in the world. They also don’t offer an alternative to our counterterrorism efforts. They opposed extending the Turkish army’s mandate abroad because they did not recognize (the YPG) as a terrorist group. But our nation knows them very well; they know that they are acting this way to garner votes from (supporters of a pro-PKK party)."