Turkey’s presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın spoke to the press after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Qatar’s Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah at the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Headquarters.
Stating that President Erdoğan carried out intense diplomacy traffic regarding the ongoing crisis among Arab states, Kalın said, “There are certain signs of possible results. This is the general impression we got from President Erdoğan’s telephone call with Mr. [Donald] Trump. Also, considering the statements made by European leaders and the Kuwaiti emir’s initiatives in the Gulf, we too are agree that our efforts need continue to take steps in the positive direction.”
Turkey will continue to take all necessary measures to protect its national security and its borders, said presidential spokesman Kalın, referring to the recent harassment fire on Turkish forces by the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) Syrian branch, the People's Protection Units (YPG) from Afrin in northwestern Syria.
"Any threat that may come from Syria or another country toward Turkey - this could be from Daesh, the [PKK] PYD/YPG, whatever terrorist organization it is from - Turkey will respond to these immediately in kind," he said.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeast of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
