In a statement, the ministry reported that 20 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters, who were preparing to launch an attack, were killed in northern Syria, while one rebel was killed in northern Iraq.

“Our operations will continue effectively and resolutely,” the ministry added.

The PKK, designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union, and the US, began its armed insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984.

The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

Turkey regards the YPG, the leading force within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the PKK and similarly classifies it as a terrorist organisation.

Following the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the YPG must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria’s future.

The operations today come amid ongoing hostilities in northeastern Syria between Turkey-backed Syrian factions and the YPG.

Ankara routinely conducts cross-border air strikes and military operations targeting the PKK, which maintains bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq.