Türkiye does not need anyone's permission to ensure its security: Official

ISTANBUL

Türkiye does not need permission from any country to ensure its security, the Turkish presidential spokesman said on Saturday following a US statement on Türkiye’s cross-border aerial campaign against the YPG/PKK terror group.

“We can discuss this issue with our allies. When a NATO member country faces a threat, attack, or terrorist act, we expect all NATO allies to take joint action. As the Turkish president said, Türkiye will take matters into its own hands if these steps are not taken,” Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Istanbul.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon expressed concern over Türkiye's airstrikes in northern Syria, saying they posed a threat to US personnel and harmed the fight against the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group.

Last week, Ankara launched Operation Claw-Sword against the YPG/PKK terror group which has illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on Turkish soil.

The airstrikes came in response to a YPG/PKK terrorist attack on Nov. 13 on Istanbul's crowded Istiklal Avenue that killed six people and left 81 injured.

On the second meeting of the permanent joint mechanism between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden, which was held on Friday in Stockholm, Kalin said their primary aim was to ensure the implementation of commitments in the tripartite memorandum.

The first meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism established under the memorandum was held on Aug. 26 in Vantaa, Finland.

Kalin also welcomed recent statements by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during his visit to Türkiye as well as some steps taken by Sweden to fulfill its commitments under the memorandum, describing them as “promising.”

Kristersson told the media on Friday that Ankara’s security concerns will be addressed as part of the tripartite memorandum signed by Sweden, Finland, and Türkiye in June.

“To be honest, this is not a triple memorandum, rather it is an agreement that Finland and Sweden promised Türkiye on security,” Kristersson told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, adding it would fulfill the commitments.

Kalin said: "There is a will that individuals, organizations, and similar structures that commit terrorist crimes against Türkiye should no longer operate in these countries," Kalin said.

“The continuation, follow-up, and realization of this will with concrete steps will of course accelerate their NATO process,” he added.

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

A trilateral memorandum at a NATO summit signed among the countries in June stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD, the PKK's Syrian offshoot, or to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) -- the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.

Türkiye, a NATO member for more than 70 years, made it clear that it will oppose the Nordic countries' NATO membership if its security concerns have not been met.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz