Türkiye never backed away from fighting terrorism: Erdogan's chief adviser

Türkiye never refrains from its fight against terrorist organisations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic has said.

"We never backed away from our operations in the north of Syria and Iraq, and our fight against terrorism," Kilic told the TRT Haber television channel on Wednesday.

His remarks came after 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK terrorist attack last week, followed by Türkiye's air strikes against terror targets in northern Iraq and Syria to eliminate members of the PKK terror group and other terrorist elements.

"No one can anymore question the steps taken by Türkiye to ensure its own security and regional security," Kilic added.

On Saturday, President Erdogan vowed that Türkiye would pay “whatever the cost” to prevent the emergence of a "terrorist structure" in northern Iraq and Syria, both areas along Türkiye’s borders.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye. They also have a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US and the European Union — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.​​​​​​​

Kilic said Türkiye is the second largest army of NATO, and it has some expectations from its allies regarding its stance against terrorism.

"We have allies which make misreadings in some cases," he said, adding some allies "unfortunately choose a wrong path" to use some terrorist groups to stop or destroy other terrorist groups.

Türkiye has long complained of the US working with the PKK/YPG on the pretext of fighting Daesh. Turkish officials say using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.

Sweden's NATO bid

Turning to Sweden's bid to join NATO, Kilic said Sweden changed its laws and constitution and restricted the mobility of some of the terrorist organisations within the country.

"Sweden has taken serious steps," he added, stressing that the final say on the Nordic country's NATO membership lies with the Turkish parliament's general assembly.

The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission on Tuesday approved Sweden’s NATO membership bid. The next step is a vote by the full parliament, where the ruling alliance holds the majority of seats.

Finland and Sweden – both Nordic countries close to or bordering Russia – applied for NATO membership soon after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022.

Türkiye approved Finland's membership in the alliance this March but said it was waiting for Sweden to abide by a June 2022 trilateral memorandum to address Ankara's security concerns.

The sale of F-16 fighter jets

On Ankara's bid to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the US, Kilic said US President Joe Biden does not have a "negative view" on the issue, but stressed that it is a matter of the Congress.

In a phone call on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his US counterpart Antony Blinken that Türkiye expects the US administration and US Congress to act in line with the spirit of the NATO alliance and keep promises on the sale of F-16s to Ankara.

Ankara requested F-16 fighter jets and modernisation kits in October 2021. The $6 billion deal would include the sale of 40 jets as well as modernisation kits for 79 warplanes already in the Turkish Air Force’s inventory. The US State Department has informally notified Congress of the potential sale.

However, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have vowed to kill the deal over several demands, including making the purchase contingent on Ankara's approval of Sweden's NATO membership bid. Ankara maintains that the jets would strengthen not only Türkiye but also NATO.

Regarding Türkiye's plan to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, Kilic said the UK and Spain have no problems with the procurement.

"There is an objection by Germany, and we are working on it," he added.

'Israel is cruel'

Turning to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, Kilic said Türkiye does not accept that the world watches what is happening in silence.

"In the first weeks, the Western world was supportive of Israel," he noted.

Stressing that many protests were held across European capitals and also in the US to express support for Palestine, Kilic said: "Even so, the governments did not want to see it; the people shouted their support for Palestine. Our president did this at the forefront."

Now, more than 150 countries support the stance against Israel, he added.

"Israel is cruel. Israel's policies are cruelty. Those being massacred right now are Palestinians," Kilic stressed.

Countries in the region are currently making efforts to prevent the war from spreading, he said, adding Türkiye is working with the Gulf countries to find a "fair and lasting" solution to the issue.

Israel launched a massive military offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, killing at least 21,110 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 55,243 others, according to local health authorities.

The onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.