Erdoğan praises military advance in Libya

ANKARA

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 5 said that Turkish soldiers are approaching the “targeted plans” in Libya during the struggle they are leading with their “Libyan brothers.

“Our soldiers are writing epics in Libya, northern Iraq, and [Syria’s northwestern region of] Idlib. We are carrying out our fight against terror with our own means; we make our investments,” Erdoğan said.

The president’s remarks came during the mass opening of 10 “Nation Gardens” in the capital Ankara.

“For the past couple of days, our soldiers have been marching toward the targeted plans during their struggle where they are together with their Libyan brothers,” he said.

Erdoğan also praised Turkey’s works in the defense industry, adding that many important projects have reached their conclusion phase.

“We will continue to produce works for our country, by raising the bar of our service politics,” he added, referring to the opened Nation Gardens.

“We will cover all 81 provinces with Nation Gardens by 2023. As we will mark the 100th anniversary of the republic, we are nearing our goal of bringing 81 million square meters of National Gardens to 81 provinces for our people,” he added.

Inspection at Syrian border

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and senior Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) officers inspected the military units operating near the Syrian border.

Akar, Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler, Commander of Land Forces Gen. Ümit Dündar, Chief of Air Staff Gen. Hasan Küçükaktüz and Commander of Naval Forces Admiral Adnan Özbal arrived in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa on June 5.

Akar and the commanders were welcomed by Şanlıurfa Governor Abdullah Erin, Second Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sinan Yayla and other officials.

The military officers inspected the military units along the Syrian border. Akar and the commanders also held online and face-to-face meetings with the commanders of the said units.

President Erdoğan also attended the meetings by phone and praised the units for their performance with the fight against terrorism.

Erdoğan also said that he applauds the units’ successes in operations in northern Iraq, Idlib and the performances of the trainers in Libya.

“I believe that our unity and solidarity will make the world astounded and will make our situation in NATO much more powerful,” he said.