Ankara Summons the American Ambassador .. Erdogan: No one is accountable to Turkey for its operations in Iraq and Syria after the "massacre" against our citizens.

Today, Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the West to stop supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the day after the announcement of the discovery of the bodies of 13 civilians who were kidnapped by the organization in northern Iraq, at a time when Ankara summoned the US ambassador to it over the incident.

In a speech during his participation in a party event in the state of Rize, in northeastern Turkey, Erdogan directed his speech to the United States, saying: "If you want to continue the alliance relations with Turkey at the level of the international community and NATO, then you must stop standing beside the terrorists."

He added, "Anyone who supports, supports or sympathizes with the PKK terrorist organization (Kurdistan Workers Party) has their hands stained with the blood of the 13 Turkish citizens who were killed in Gara (northern Iraq)."

Erdogan pointed out that Ankara agreed with both the governments of Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to eradicate the organization.

He stressed that no country, institution, entity or person can hold Turkey accountable for its operations in Iraq and Syria after this "massacre."

Summons the ambassador

In turn, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said today, Monday, that it has summoned the US ambassador to Ankara, David Satterfield, to inform him "in the strongest terms" of Turkey's reaction to a statement issued by the United States regarding the killing of Turks who were kidnapped by Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

The US State Department issued a statement saying, "If reports are confirmed that Turkish civilians were killed at the hands of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the organization that is considered a terrorist, then we condemn this act in the strongest possible terms."

Turkish pro-government media condemned the language used in the American statement, while a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry considered that the use of the phrase "if confirmed" in the statement raises doubts about the veracity of Ankara's story.

On Sunday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, "When we stormed the caves of the terrorist organization (northern Iraq), we found the bodies of 13 of our civilians who had been kidnapped by the organization previously."

Yesterday, Akar also announced the end of Operation Eagle Claw-2 in the Gara region in northern Iraq, which is one of the military operations launched by Turkey during the past years against the PKK militants in northern Iraq.

He explained that during the operation that began last Wednesday, the Turkish forces managed to destroy more than 50 sites of the organization, while 3 Turkish army members were killed and 3 others were wounded.

It should be noted that the "PKK" is classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

According to Turkish data, during the organization's activities that have continued for more than 30 years, the organization has killed about 40,000 people.