AA / Ankara / Tuncay Cakmak
The President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced an upcoming ground operation against terrorist groups in northern Syria, in addition to the airstrikes currently underway.
The Turkish Head of State spoke on Wednesday at the weekly meeting of the AK Party (Justice and Development Party) group in the Turkish Parliament.
He first returned to the earthquake that hit the province of Düzce in the northwest of the country overnight.
He assured the inhabitants of the region of the total and entire mobilization of all the ministries and State institutions concerned in order to come to the aid of the victims and guarantee their safety.
The latest report now reports 68 injured and one dead.
Erdogan then spoke about the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in northern Syria and Iraq.
He recalled that it is a response to the terrorist attack of Sunday November 13 perpetrated in Istanbul (6 dead and 81 wounded) and to the firing of rockets against southern Türkiye from northern Syria.
“Our air operations are only the beginning. When the time is right, we will also crush the terrorists by land,” he said, recalling that strikes have targeted the targets of the PKK / YPG terrorist organization for the past few days. in Syria and Iraq.
The Turkish president also indicated that the ground operation will first concern Tell Rifat, Manbij and Ain al-Arab (Kobane), in Syria.
These areas correspond to those which should have been cleared of the presence of PKK/YPG terrorists, in accordance with the agreements signed with Russia and the United States.
“We respect our agreements concerning the Syrian borders. If our vis-à-vis cannot respect the agreement, we have the right to take care of ourselves,” he denounced.
And to add: “The powers that assured that there would be no threat to our country from the regions under their control in Syria have not kept their promises”.
Erdogan thus took the opportunity to once again condemn Washington’s military support for the YPG/PKK terrorists in Syria, recalling that the attacks against Türkiye come from regions where the Americans collaborate with the terrorist group.
“To those who still believe in bending Türkiye by sneaky means, here is our answer: you will not succeed!”, He launched to conclude.
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