Turkey insists on establishing 30 KM deep 'safe zone' in Syria

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Aug 17:08

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims Turkey did not abandon its plan to establish a 30-kilometer security line on the country's southern border.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey will soon "eliminate terrorists" in the last areas of neighboring Syria.

"I hope that soon we will unify the rings of this security belt by clearing the last areas where terrorists remain in Syria," Erdogan told foreign ambassadors in Ankara.

According to the President, Turkey did not let go of its plan to establish a 30-kilometer security line on the country's southern border.

Late in July, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that Ankara would provide all kinds of political support to Damascus to expel terrorists from the region, saying that his country had previously held talks with Iran in this regard.

In a televised interview, Cavusoglu said that it is Syria's natural right to expel the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants from its territory.

The Turkish Minister considered that Russia and the United States have not fulfilled their promises regarding Syria, claiming that Moscow is seeking to integrate the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian regime.

In a statement to Turkish channel TV100, Cavusoglu said that Turkey may launch its announced military operation in Syria at any moment.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had already stressed that "Syria will resist any Turkish invasion of its lands at the official and popular levels."

The Syrian Ministry of Defense had announced in a statement the Syrian army's readiness to confront any possible aggression from Turkey and its affiliated organizations, especially with the intensification of provocations by the Turkish regime on Syrian territory.