Despite the recent incursions, Turkey reiterates its respect to Iraq's territory

Shafaq News/ Turkey's Minister of Defense, Hulusi Akar, spoke on Wednesday over the phone with his Iraqi counterpart, Minister Juma Anad.

According to a statement by the Turkish National Defense Ministry, the two exchanged views on bilateral and regional defense and security issues.

"We respect the territorial integrity, borders, and sovereignty of all our neighbors, especially Iraq, and no one should doubt this," Akar said.

Akar noted that Turkey's struggle is against "terrorism and terrorists", saying "it aims to neutralize "terrorists" who nested in northern Iraq, killed 40,000 people and committed crimes against humanity."

Turkey launched Operations Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim on April 23 in northern Iraq's Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions near its borders.