Erdogan Says Turkey to Launch Military Operations on its Southern Borders

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony at the Golcuk Naval Shipyard in Izmit, Turkey May 23, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony at the Golcuk Naval Shipyard in Izmit, Turkey May 23, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
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Erdogan Says Turkey to Launch Military Operations on its Southern Borders

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony at the Golcuk Naval Shipyard in Izmit, Turkey May 23, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a ceremony at the Golcuk Naval Shipyard in Izmit, Turkey May 23, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday Ankara would soon launch new military operations along its southern borders to create 30-km deep safe zones to combat terrorist threats from these regions.

"The main target of these operations will be areas which are centers of attacks to our country and safe zones," Erdogan said, without elaborating.

Erdogan said the operations would be launched as soon as military, intelligence and security forces have completed their preparations.

Separately, Erdogan said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis no longer existed for him after he visited the United States, and accused Mitsotakis of trying to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

"We had agreed to not include third countries in our dispute with him. Despite this, last week, he had a visit to the US and talked at the Congress and warned them not to give F-16s to us," Erdogan said at a press conference following the weekly cabinet meeting.

"He longer exists for me. I will never agree to meet with him. We will continue our way with honorable politicians."



Israel Ups Bombing in Central Gaza, Strikes Kill 17 People

27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy  Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel Ups Bombing in Central Gaza, Strikes Kill 17 People

27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy  Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli military strikes killed at least 17 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said, as forces stepped up bombardments on central areas and pushed tanks deeper in the north and south of the enclave.
Six people were killed in two separate air strikes on a house and near the hospital of Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, while four others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a motorcycle in Khan Younis in the south, Reuters said.
In Nuseirat, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, Israeli planes carried out several airstrikes destroying a multi-floor building and hitting roads outside mosques. At least seven people were killed in some of those strikes, health officials said.
Medics said at least two people, a woman and a child, were killed in tank shelling that hit western areas of Nuseirat, while an airstrike killed five others in a house nearby.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, tanks pushed deeper into the northern-west area of the city, residents said.
There has been no Israeli comment on the fighting in Gaza overnight and early Thursday.
Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza, with the avowed intent of eradicating Hamas militants, has killed nearly 44,200 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, according to Gaza officials. Vast swathes of the territory are in ruins.
The war was launched in response to an attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed around 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has said.
Months of attempts to negotiate a ceasefire have yielded scant progress, and negotiations are now on hold. Mediator Qatar has suspended its efforts until the sides are prepared to make concessions.
A ceasefire in the parallel conflict between Israel and Hamas' Lebanese ally Hezbollah took effect before dawn on Wednesday, bringing a halt to hostilities that had escalated sharply in recent months and overshadowed the conflict in Gaza.
Announcing the Lebanon accord on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he would now renew his push for an elusive agreement in Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas to seize the moment.