ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Thursday Turkey is prepared to take unilateral military action “wherever there is a threat.”
Speaking during a nationally televised address at the Turkish vice-president’s palace, Erdogan warned that there is “a lot of tension around us” that could require a military response.
“Turkey will take every step beyond its borders for its own security. Wherever there is a threat, we will eliminate them at the source without seeking permission from anyone,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying.
Turkey has threatened military operations to root out the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it designates as a terrorist organization, in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
Erdogan’s address touched on Turkey’s peace process with the PKK, saying threats to Turkey had been “drastically reduced.”
Turkey’s military has "restricted the movement of terrorist organizations,” he said, in an apparent reference to military operations against the PKK.
The Turkish Parliament on Wednesday approved measures to advance the peace process, which will formally disband the PKK. The PKK announced it would disarm last year after a decades-long conflict that killed an estimated 50,000 lives.
Erdogan also reported Turkey has reached 80 perfect domestic military production capacity, reducing its dependence on foreign arms. Turkey plans to add fighter jets and expand its naval fleet to include aircraft carriers, he said.
"From attack and surveillance drones to ships and tanks, we meet our needs in almost every field," he said.
He praised an agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria’s interim government to bring autonomous Kurdish-led local government and security under the central government, calling it a “positive development.” Turkey is a key ally of Damascus and has demanded the Kurdish-led SDF disarm, claiming the group is a PKK offshoot.
“The process toward full integration has begun,” Erdogan said.
A Turkish defense ministry spokesperson said on Thursday Ankara expects the integration to be completed “swiftly.”