Ankara asks NATO ambassadors to meet on Tuesday to inform allies about measures it is taking amid anti-terror operations

Ambassadors of all 28 NATO allies are set to meet in Brussels on Tuesday following Ankara’s request, amid Turkey’s police operations against terrorist organizations, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Sunday.

Under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, any member country can request consultations whenever it feels its security is under threat.

Stoltenberg said in an interview with the BBC World TV on Sunday: “When Turkey requests for such a meeting I think it’s very right and very timely to have a meeting where we address the turmoil and the instability we see in Syria, Iraq and surrounding and close to NATO borders of Turkey.

“NATO Allies follow developments very closely and stand in solidarity with Turkey,” he said. The NATO chief said he had spoken to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressing condolences for the loss of life in the attacks.

He said he “also commended him and Turkey for stepping up their efforts to fight [Daesh] and to fight terrorism and to also increase control over their borders and to stem the flow of foreign fighters.”

Over eight hundred people have been detained across Turkey in three days of police raids against terrorist organizations. Turkey has had a bitter week with dozens of citizens dying in a wave of terror attacks.

On Wednesday, two police officers were found shot dead at their shared home in Sanliurfa’s Ceylanpinar district — an attack for which the PKK terrorist organization claimed responsibility.

A day later, another policeman was killed in a gun attack in Diyarbakir. The same day, gunfire from Syria killed a Turkish military officer and injured two troops in southern Kilis province, prompting Turkish forces to return fire.

On Friday, another police officer was kidnapped as he was heading from Mardin to Mus with his family on the Diyarbakir-Bingol Highway, police said.

The country has started operations against Daesh and the PKK in northern Syria and Iraq (Anadolu Agency)

[adrotate group=”9″]