UPDATE -Turkish Defense Min: Sinjar won’t be new PKK stronghold

ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM DEFENSE MINISTER</p> <p>By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s defense minister said Tuesday that northern Iraq’s Sinjar region will not be allowed to become a new stronghold for the PKK terror group.</p> <p>&quot;We expect the Iraqi government to cooperate with us in ending the separatist PKK terror group’s presence in Iraqi territories,&quot; said Hulusi Akar during his budget speech in parliament.</p> <p>Akar noted that Turkey respects the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and its neighbors.</p> <p>&quot;However, for the security of the country and the nation, our operations will continue until the PKK terror group has been completely defeated in the locations they exist in Iraq,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Sinjar “will never be allowed to become a new [Mt.] Qandil&quot;.</p> <p>The terrorist PKK has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, which is located near the Turkish border.</p> <p>On Thursday, the Turkish Armed Forces dealt a heavy blow to the PKK terror group in the Sinjar and Mt. Karajak regions.</p> <p>In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.</p> <p>Akar also recalled the U.S.'s promise to remove the YPG/PKK terror group from Syria's Manbij region.</p> <p>“However, we have determined that the terror group has dug trenches in Manbij,” he said.</p> <p>&quot;When the time comes, the terrorists in this region will be buried in the trenches they have dug,&quot; he stressed.</p> <p>Akar also provided data on the number of Turkish armed forces personnel dismissed since the 2016 defeated coup attempt.</p> <p>&quot;Since July 15, [2016] due to FETO, a total of 15,154 personnel, including 150 generals and admirals and 7,595 officers, have been dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces,&quot; he noted, referring to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization.</p> <p>FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.</p> <p>Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.