UPDATE - Türkiye determined to make borders safe via anti-terror operations: President

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH PRESIDENT

By Diyar Guldogan and Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye is determined to make the country and its borders safe through the operations it carries out against terrorism, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

"Hopefully, with these operations, step by step, we are determined to make every inch of our country safe, starting from beyond the border," Erdogan said at an event in the central Konya province.

Erdogan's remarks came after three Turkish soldiers were killed in northern Iraq by harassment fire in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, which Türkiye launched in April to target the PKK terrorist organization's hideouts in the northern Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

The president extended his condolences and wished patience to the mourning families of the soldiers, to the Turkish Armed Forces, and to the nation.

Recently, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, a cross-border aerial campaign against the terror group PKK/YPG, which has illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan and sometimes execute attacks on Turkish soil.

After the air operation was launched on Nov. 20, Erdogan had also signaled a ground operation into northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terror threat.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Later, addressing a meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party's Provincial Advisory Council in Konya, Erdogan said: "While European countries are thinking of how they will go through the winter due to the energy crisis, thanks be to Allah, we are entering the winter in relief."

Referring to Ankara's efforts to get the supply of grain moving out of Ukraine, the president said Türkiye is in preparation for buying wheat to turn it into flour and sending it to poor countries.

He also recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer of sending grain to poor countries free of charge.

Last week, days before its scheduled expiration, the landmark grain deal signed in Istanbul in July by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine was extended for another 120 days, beginning Nov. 19.

On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been paused in February due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Touching upon Türkiye's initiatives in the defense industry, Erdogan said mass production of the country’s first unmanned fighter aircraft Kizilelma will be started toward the end of 2023.