Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened his security council on Thursday to discuss "cross-
border operations
" against "
terrorist
" organizations including the PKK, Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Read alsoNATO: Erdogan determined to block the entry of Sweden and Finland
The Turkish army has been conducting an operation in northern Iraq since mid-April targeting PKK positions and since Monday, the head of state said he was considering a similar offensive in northern Syria.
According to a press release from the presidency, "
information has been submitted and additional measures have been discussed regarding the ongoing operations in the country and outside our borders against the terrorist organizations, PKK/KCK-PYD-YPG, Feto and Daesh, and all kinds of threats against our national unity,
” he said.
In addition to the PKK and its allies, in particular the People's Protection Units (YPG), supported by the United States in the fight against the Islamic State group (Daesh according to the Arabic acronym), the text rightly cites the jihadist movement and that of the preacher Fethullah Gülen, based in the United States and suspected of having hatched the 2016 coup attempt
. of the terrorist threat are in no way aimed at the territorial integrity of our neighbors and result from our national security needs
".
The planned operations target, among other things, the Kurdish movements that Ankara denounces as "
terrorist
" organizations: as such, Turkey has been blocking Sweden and Finland's membership of NATO for two weeks, accusing them of serving "
d 'hostel
' to their militants, including those of the PKK and the YPG.
During a meeting in Ankara on Wednesday with delegations of diplomats from the two Nordic countries, the Turkish presidency reiterated its hostility to their integration without "
concrete progress
" regarding its security concerns.