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Sweden insists Turkiye has the right to defend itself against terrorism

November 22, 2022 at 10:15 am

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde (L) hold joint press conference after their meeting at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Ankara, Turkey on October 13, 2020 [Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images]

Swedish Foreign Minister has insisted that Turkiye has the right to defend itself against terrorism. Tobias Billstrom made his comment to Sweden’s Expressen newspaper on the sidelines of the donor conference for Moldova in Paris.

Billstrom was referring to the aerial bombing campaign codenamed Operation Claw-Sword that Turkiye launched against terrorist hideouts in Syria and Iraq at the weekend. He noted that Turkiye “is a state that has been subjected to terrorist attacks, and all states have the right to defend themselves.”

Three civilians were killed and six others were wounded as a result of shells fired by the terrorist YPG organisation from northern Syria on Monday. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu confirmed that the shells exploded in Carchemish district in the state of Gaziantep. On Sunday, a Turkish soldier and seven policemen were injured as a result of rockets being fired at the Ongo Pinar border gate in Kilis by YPG elements.

The Turkish Ministry of Defence announced at dawn on Sunday that its forces had launched Operation Claw-Sword against terrorist sites in northern Iraq and Syria.

READ: Turkiye summons Swedish ambassador over ‘terrorist propaganda’ in Stockholm