Turkey vows to expand anti-terror cross-border operations

Defense minister says terrorist targets hit severely since Saturday’s attack killing 3 Turkish troops near border with Syria

Turkey will continue and even increase its anti-terror cross-border operations in the wake of a recent attack, the nation’s defense minister said on Tuesday.

Hulusi Akar’s remarks came in response to a question by Anadolu Agency on the operations launched after three Turkish soldiers were killed in an improvised explosive device blast on Saturday near Turkey’s border with Syria.

The defense chief said necessary operations were launched immediately after the treacherous attack. “These planned attacks beyond our borders have pushed our limits of tolerance.”

“We hit PKK/YPG targets severely, and we will continue to hit them from now on,” he asserted, referring to 22 terrorists that have been neutralized since the weekend attack. “We think this number will increase even more,” he added.

Three Turkish soldiers were killed when a bomb planted by terrorists went off Saturday in Akcakale, a border district of the southeastern Sanliurfa province.

Turkish authorities use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Turkey’s punitive operations will continue increasing, Akar said, adding: “We express once again that we expect all our interlocutors to fulfil their responsibilities under the agreements.”