ISTANBUL
\nA total of 89 targets were destroyed in the ongoing Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, and \u201cmany terrorists\u201d were \u201cneutralised,\u201d the Turkish Ministry of National Defence has announced.
\n\u201cAmong the terrorists neutralised by the air operation are the so-called leaders of the terrorist organisation,\u201d the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
\nThe operation was carried out in the Qandil, Asos, Hakurk regions in northern Iraq, and Ayn al Arab, Tel Rifaat, Jazira and Derik in northern Syria, the statement continued.
\nTurkish authorities use the term \u201cneutralise\u201d to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or wounded.
\nThe statement said that the first stage of the operation targeted the \u201cshelters, bunkers, caves, tunnels, ammunition depots and so-called headquarters and training camps belonging to terrorists.\u201d
\nT\u00fcrkiye launched a new cross-border anti-terror operation called \u201cOperation Claw-Sword\u201d during the early hours of Sunday, a week after the PKK\/YPG terror group carried out a deadly bombing in the country\u2019s financial city Istanbul, killing six people and wounding more than 80.
\nThe Ministry of National Defence said the new aerial campaign against the PKK\/YPG was carried out in self-defence in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter.
\n\u201cOnly terrorists and hideouts belonging to them were targeted… The claw of our Turkish Armed Forces was once again on the top of the terrorists,\u201d Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said earlier in the day.
\nT\u00fcrkiye will continue to call to account those who target the country\u2019s security, he vowed.
\n\u201cOur aim is to ensure the security of our 85 million citizens and our borders and to respond to any treacherous attack on our country,\u201d Akar stressed.
\nIn its more than 35-year campaign against T\u00fcrkiye, the PKK \u2013 listed as a terrorist organisation by T\u00fcrkiye, the US and the EU \u2013 has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
\nThe YPG is the PKK\u2019s Syrian offshoot.
\nVice President Fuat Oktay said the Turkish Armed Forces called the terrorists to account.
\n\u201cWe will continue to make traitors pay the price,\u201d Oktay said on Twitter.
\nPresidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that T\u00fcrkiye had the \u201cfull sovereign right to determine and eliminate any terrorist threats\u201d no matter where it came from.
\n\u201cT\u00fcrkiye conducts its anti-terror operations within international law and will continue to do so with or without the support of its allies,\u201d Kalin said on Twitter.
\nSeparately, Communication Director Fahrettin Altun reiterated that terrorists\u2019 targets were \u201csuccessfully\u201d destroyed during the operation.
\n\u201cWe will continue to defeat terrorists and their sponsors who seek to destabilise T\u00fcrkiye [and] destroy terrorism at its source,\u201d Altun said on Twitter.
\nMeanwhile, the Turkish Presidency shared photos of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordering the start of the air operation on his return from Indonesia where he visited to attend the Group of 20 summit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISTANBUL A total of 89 targets were destroyed in the ongoing Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, and \u201cmany terrorists\u201d were \u201cneutralised,\u201d the Turkish Ministry of National Defence has announced. \u201cAmong the terrorists neutralised by the air operation are the so-called leaders of the terrorist organisation,\u201d the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11487,4091,11486,8089],"class_list":{"0":"post-296414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-defence-ministry","9":"tag-iraq","10":"tag-syria-operation","11":"tag-turkiye"},"yoast_head":"\n