Turkey ready to take ‘all measures’ to secure its borders: PM

ANKARA

AA photo

Turkey is ready to take “all measures” to protect its borders and beyond and has concluded the necessary preparations to this end, Turkey’s prime minister has said, disregarding comments that a “lame-duck” government would not be that willing to act militarily. 

“[…] Turkey is ready for any sort possibility and all necessary contingency works have been concluded,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said, at a fast-breaking dinner late June 28. Davutoğlu’s statement came amid reports on the Turkish army’s readiness to intervene into Syria in order to create a buffer zone between two cantons of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), seen as offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) by Ankara. 

 The PYD recently pushed back jihadists from key positions in northern Syria and created a 400 kilometer long border with Turkey, sparking concerns it was establishing a Kurdish entity just off the border. Turkey accused the PYD of committing ethnic cleansing against Arabs and Turkmens in the region so it could reinforce its demographic majority. 

Statements from senior Turkish officials have been interpreted as showing the country’s readiness to act to stop Syrian Kurds from creating a southern corridor which would reach to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 

“No one should be concerned that the fire would spread to Turkey,” Davutoğlu stressed.  Recalling that there is an interim government in power that seeks to be renewed by a coalition government, Davutoğlu said this should not be construed that they will turn their back on the developments. “Even if we are in power for one second, we won’t remain silent; we will take all necessary measures. State structures will implement these measures. No one is more important than the comfort and peace of Turkey,” he said.  

Underlining that the Turkish Armed Forces is already on alert for the continuation of comfort and security in the country, he said, “We take all necessary measures of our border and beyond for the security and for reducing the risks that would be posed from there [Syria].”