Türkiye taking steps for security zone on border: President Erdogan

ANKARA, TÜRKİYE - JUNE 04: Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the 30th consultation and evaluation meeting of AK Party in Ankara, Turkiye on June 04, 2022. Türkiye is taking steps to establish a 30-km (18.7-mile) security zone south of the Turkish border to protect the nation from the YPG/PKK terrorist threat, the Turkish president said on Saturday (June 4). “30 kilometers inwards from the border in our south is our security area, we do not want to be disturbed in this security area,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the 30th consultation and evaluation meeting of the Justice and Development (AK) Party in Ankara’s district Kizilcahamam. “With the Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, Peace Spring, Spring Shield and Claw-Lock, we have shattered the terror corridor that is being tried to be created on our southern border,” he reminded. In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people. The YPG/PYD is the PKK's Syrian offshoot. Erdogan also reiterated his country’s stance on Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids, saying: “The whole world should know this, NATO countries should know first that NATO is not an organization that will provide terrorist security.” (Footage by Muhammet Fatih Demirci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)