Türkiye has been relatively restrained in response to the downing of an armed Turkish drone in northern Syria by the U.S. forces. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday revealed why it acted so in remarks after a Cabinet meeting. “There is no doubt that the incident has been engraved in our national memory and necessary action will certainly be taken when the time comes,” Erdoğan said at a news conference in the capital Ankara.
He did not elaborate on a possible response but renewed his criticism of the United States and other countries for their support of the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing YPG. The downing of the drone last week came at a time when Türkiye was carrying out airstrikes against the terrorist group in northeastern Syria. The U.S. troops are present in the area, under the pretext of support to the PKK/YPG, which claims to fight against Daesh.
The Pentagon has termed the incident “regrettable,” while the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement last Friday that it lost the drone “due to different technical assessments of de-confliction mechanism run by third parties.”
Erdoğan said Turkish security forces have been completely meticulous to ensure nobody except terrorists would be targeted during the operation. “Yet, we could not prevent this unpleasant or ‘regrettable’ incident (as the United States described),” he said. The president highlighted that Türkiye's counterterrorism fight, which began 40 years ago, was being carried out on "principles," and it was largely taken beyond Turkish borders as part of a strategy to eradicate the terrorism at its source.
"Inspired by our state traditions of the past, we adhere to international laws in our fight against terrorism beyond our borders. Türkiye did not shed the blood of any innocent people deliberately or did not harm the dignity of people in its counterterrorism fight. We adhered to the same sensitivity in our latest operations in Iraq and Syria's north. The first stage of our operation targeting only terrorists, their facilities and places they used as sources of revenue concluded successfully. We have destroyed 194 targets and neutralized 162 terrorists since Oct. 1 in our army's operations. Yet, like in every operation, our ally supporting the terrorist group under the pretext of the fight against Daesh emerged as the biggest problem," Erdoğan lamented.
The U.S. left its bases in northern Syria after Türkiye launched its Peace Spring operation in October 2019 against the PKK/YPG, concentrating its military near oil fields. Washington, however, maintained its support for the terrorist group. U.S. forces are active in Hassakeh and Deir el-Zour, in areas occupied by the terrorist group and continuously send supplies to those areas.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization in the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union. Washington’s support for the terrorist group in Syria has significantly strained bilateral relations with Ankara. The terrorist group has used bases across Türkiye’s border in northern Iraq and northern Syria to plot and carry out attacks on the country, working to create a terrorist corridor along the borderline, threatening both Syrian locals and nearby Turkish residents.
Since 2016, Ankara has been leading counteroffensives against the terrorist groups and striving to establish a 30-kilometer-deep (19-mile-deep) security line, for which Russia and the U.S. committed to providing support in October 2019. The same month, Türkiye launched its Operation Peace Spring against the PKK/YPG and Daesh in northern Syria, with Washington promising that the YPG would withdraw from the region. The U.S. military then evacuated all its bases in the area, prioritizing stationing near oil fields. The continued U.S. support, namely military training and truckloads of equipment, for the terrorist group, has drawn the ire of its NATO ally Türkiye on numerous occasions. Thanks to U.S. help worth millions of dollars, the YPG has grown stronger in northeastern Syria, despite Washington’s promises to Türkiye that it would “consult and work closely” with Ankara against Daesh and the PKK.
Erdoğan said they have called on the "powers" maintaining relations with terrorist groups in the region "for years" to keep their military and intelligence elements away from terrorists "so as they would not be harmed in our operations."
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said earlier that Turkish security forces were authorized to target everything owned or controlled by the PKK in Syria and Iraq. "Everything belonging to the PKK/YPG, from infrastructure to energy facilities, in Syria and Iraq are now legitimate targets of our security forces," he said during a news conference on Oct. 4. Fidan's remarks came after the Oct. 1 terrorist attack by the PKK that targeted the headquarters of Turkish police in the capital. Fidan said that the investigation showed that two terrorists involved in the attack hailed from Syria. Fidan also warned third parties, without naming them, to stay away from PKK/YPG facilities. "Our armed forces' response to this terrorist attack will be extremely clear. They will once again regret committing such actions," he added.
The president said Türkiye would continue carrying out operations "with more intensity and efficiency and determination" in places controlled by the terrorist group and target the terrorists. "We will not allow any one terrorist to exist within our borders and we will not allow the establishment of a 'corridor of terrorism' beyond. Our allies gave us promises on this matter but they betrayed their pledges. The name change of the terrorist group apparently deceived them. Calling the PKK SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces, a name YPG uses to portray itself as a legitimate entity) is not very different than calling America the United States or Great Britain the United Kingdom," Erdoğan said.
"It is a legal and moral responsibility for every country recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group to include this recognition of different entities of the PKK using different names," he said. Erdoğan said it was Türkiye's legitimate right to carry out cross-border operations and intelligence operations on a global level until eradicating the PKK and all its affiliates. "This is not limited to the PKK but also extends to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and Daesh," he said.
Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the government's main ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), also denounced the United States for its support to the terrorists. "United States blatantly opened fire on our aerial vehicle, from the bunkers of the PKK/YPG. This is clear as day. Unfortunately, the United States is aligned with the PKK/YPG and attempted to exhibit a show of force, in favor of terrorists and against its NATO ally," he said in the capital Ankara on Tuesday during his party's parliamentary group meeting.
"I condemn this incident, which is an illegal, hostile intervention. The U.S. Department of Defense said our uncrewed aerial vehicle was shot down in self-defense, and it was a legitimate action. It is unclear whether it is really self-defense and whether there is anything legitimate. I wonder what the United States is doing in Syria's north. I wonder what they want to achieve by placing terrorists to guard oil wells. If they claim it is for self-defense purposes, they should understand that Türkiye is engaged in self-defense (through counterterrorism operations). There is no need for deceptive words and confusing messages," Bahçeli said.
The MHP leader said that the United States "did the same thing" in 1992 in the Aegean Sea, referring to an incident where a missile from a U.S. destroyer killed five Turkish sailors and injured another 22 people. "We neither will forget the sack incident engraved in national memory," Bahçeli said. He was referring to the detention of a group of Turkish troops in northern Iraq's Sulaymaniyah in 2003 by U.S. troops. U.S. troops placed hoods resembling sacks on the heads of Turkish troops during their detention. The incident caused public outrage in Türkiye and prompted anti-U.S. rallies. Several activists were detained in the ensuing years as they tried to "retaliate" the incident by putting sacks on the heads of U.S. soldiers on shore leave in Türkiye.
Bahçeli stated that the United States issued a message of support for Türkiye's counterterrorism fight after downing the drone, but it was "just a tactic." "We don't need their support. We just want them to steer away (from where operations are carried out)," he said.
