Turkish President Erdoğan vows to root out 'terror nests east of the Euphrates'

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Oct. 12 that Turkey’s military could soon launch a new operation across the border into northern Syria, in zones held by a Syrian Kurdish group that Ankara lists as a terrorist organization.

"God willing, very soon ... we will leave the terror nests east of the Euphrates in disarray," Erdoğan said at a military ceremony honoring Turkish commando soldiers.

Erdoğan’s statement is renewing a threat to expand Turkey’s military operations into areas east of the Euphrates River held by the U.S.-backed YPG.

Turkey launched incursion into Syria in 2016 and 2018, into areas west of the Euphrates, pushing Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants as well as YPG fighters from the border area.

Speaking about the economy, Erdoğan said Oct. 12 that Turkey continues to maintain investments.

"Being exposed to some speculative attacks in the economy recently does not change the fact that we are the world’s 13th largest country in terms of purchasing power parity and ranked 17 in terms of national income," he added.