Turkey secured most of lands bordering Syria: Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkey has secured most of the areas in Syria near the Turkish border, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 11.

“We will continue to make every effort to ensure that our neighbor, Syria, has a bright future based on its territorial integrity and political unity,” he said while virtually attending a dam opening ceremony in the southern province of Kilis.

The criticality of the work his government has carried out so far is “better understood” as Turkey gets closer to its 2023 targets, he said.

“We will never let those who with their old Turkish habits covet the democratic and economic gains of our nation,” he stated.

“Our determination to complete the construction of a great and powerful Turkey, which is the hope of all our friends and brothers in our region, is firm,” Erdoğan noted.

Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria on Aug. 24, 2016, to eliminate ISIL and other “terrorists” and help facilitate a safe and voluntary return of Syrians to their homes.

The other two successful anti-terror operations that Turkey has launched since 2016 across its border in northern Syria are Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

The operations also aim to clear the Turkish-Syrian borderline from the YPG group, which Ankara sees as the Syrian branch of the illegal PKK group.