When facing harassment fire, Turkish forces hit back: Defense chief

ANKARA

When faced by harassing fire, Turkish forces will not hesitate to retaliate, the country's National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday.

"We continue our activities in order to destroy terrorists at their source. From time to time, harassment and attacks occur, and the necessary response is given immediately, and plenty of it. Necessary measures are taken," Akar told reporters in the capital Ankara when asked about claims that harassment fire was opened at a Turkish base area in northern Iraq by terrorists.

"We continue our activities in northern Syria and in northern Iraq, with an uninterrupted and increasing violence and pace, with the aim of destroying terrorism and terrorists in place and at their source," he added.

Türkiye will resolutely continue its fight against terrorism, Akar stressed.

Türkiye has dispatched troops across its southern border into northern Syria and northern Iraq to target terrorist groups – principally the PKK and YPG/PKK – who hide out there to plan attacks in Türkiye, and who also subject locals to terrorist oppression.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union, and the US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the terrorist PKK’s Syrian branch.

* Writing by Diyar Guldogan in Ankara