Turkish Defense Minister: Our forces will remain in Iraq and Syria until 'border security is ensured'
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler announced that Turkish forces will remain in Iraq and Syria until border security is fully ensured, in a written response to press questions. He added that once security conditions are met, the deployment status will be reviewed.
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler announced that Turkish forces will remain in Iraq and Syria until border security is fully ensured. This came in a written response to press questions, in which he affirmed that his country maintains its military presence in both countries. Güler added that once the necessary conditions regarding regional and border security are confirmed to be met, the status of deployment positions and presence in the region will be reviewed. Turkey has been deploying forces in northern Syria and Iraq for years to contain the threat posed by separatists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the terrorist organization ISIS along its borders. However, the situation has changed in the last two years with a new government allied with Ankara taking power in Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime, and after Turkey moved to close the chapter on its decades-long conflict with the PKK. Güler declined to discuss any future plans, saying that at this stage it would not be appropriate to make a preliminary assessment about them.