In this blurred handout photograph released by Press Office of the Presidency of Turkey on Nov 20, 2022, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) speaks with National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (left) in an undisclosed location onboard the presidential aircraft. (HANDOUT / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)

ANKARA – Turkish army will continue responding to the "attacks" on Türkiye from northern Syria.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Thursday, after Türkiye carried out a new cross-border operation into northern Syria.

Türkiye will launch a ground operation into northern Syria "at the most convenient time" to build a security strip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday

"The necessary response has been given and will continue to be given against the increasing harassment and attacks (from northern Syria) aimed at disrupting the stability in the region and the actions targeting our civilian settlements and citizens," Akar told Shoigu, according to a statement from the Turkish ministry.

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Akar reiterated that it was of great importance to "comply with the agreements previously reached on this issue," referring to the 2019 deal between Russia and Türkiye which envisaged clearing the area 30 kilometers south of the Turkish border with Syria of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

The Russian Defense Ministry was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying that the phone talk came at the initiative of the Turkish side, during which the current situation in northern Syria and some issues related to the progress of the Black Sea Initiative were also discussed.

Türkiye carried out an aerial operation on Sunday against the YPG in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

The aerial campaign, dubbed "Operation Claw-Sword," was launched after a bomb explosion in Türkiye's largest city Istanbul on Nov 13 that killed six people and injured another 81.

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After the attack, 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.

Türkiye will launch a ground operation into northern Syria "at the most convenient time" to build a security strip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for over three decades.