By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey will launch an operation in the east of Euphrates, Syria in a few days to save it from separatist terrorist organization, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
“We expressed that we will launch an operation in east of Euphrates in a few days to save it from a separatist terrorist organization, ” Erdogan said at the Turkish Defense Industry Summit.
Erdogan added Turkey's target has never been U.S. soldiers, but rather members of terror group.
“It is clear that the purpose of U.S. observation points [in Syria] is not to protect our country from terrorists but to protect terrorists from Turkey, ” Erdogan said.
A possible mission east of the Euphrates, which Turkey’s leadership has been suggesting for months, would follow two successful cross-border Turkish operations into Syria — Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch – which were both meant to eradicate the presence of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists near Turkey’s borders.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.
