Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (R), the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L, center), and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov (L) sign a deal in Istanbul, Türkiye, on July 22, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Tuesday urged other countries, particularly the US, to cease any support for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria.

"We tell all our interlocutors, especially the US, that the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] equals the YPG. We insistently demand the cessation of all support to the terrorists," Akar told the Turkish parliament in a statement.

Ties between the two NATO allies have long been strained due to US military support to the YPG, which cooperated with Washington in operations against the Islamic State.

Akar emphasized that Turkey's recent aerial operations into northern Syria and northern Iraq were in line with international law, respected sovereign rights and territorial integrity of its neighboring countries, and targeted only the "terrorists."

Turkey carried out an aerial operation on Sunday against the YPG in northern Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq.

The "Operation Claw-Sword" was "the largest, most comprehensive and most effective aerial operation" of Turkey, the minister said.

The aerial strikes were launched after a bomb explosion in a busy street of Turkey's largest city Istanbul on November 13, in which at least six people were killed and another 81 injured.

After the explosion, Turkish police said they had detained a Syrian woman named Ahlam Albashir, who admitted to taking orders from the YPG, which Ankara considered to be the Syrian branch of the PKK.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, has rebelled against the Turkish government for over three decades.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday expressed Germany's solidarity with Turkey in the latter's fight against terrorism, but stressing that it "must be carried out in accordance with the laws of state."

The German minister made the remarks at a press conference with her Turkish counterpart Suleyman Soylu on the second day of her two-day visit to Ankara.

"It is necessary to take into account ... the protection of civilians and we believe that it is necessary to be careful, especially in terms of preventing violence from escalating," she added, referring to Turkey's recent cross-border military operations in Syria and Iraq.

In response to Faeser's statements, Soylu defended Turkey's operations in Syria and Iraq.

"They [terrorists] want to establish a terror state around us. We cannot allow that. It is our duty to protect our borders and our nation," he said.

The Turkish minister said Turkey wants the terrorist groups around the country to be considered in the same way that Europe handled terrorist strikes on its own soil.

Turkey carried out aerial operations on Sunday against the YPG in northern Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq. Ankara sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the PKK.

Xinhua