Turkish President 'challenges' Putin and declares not to stop 'Operation Peace Spring'
(Baonghean.vn) - Ankara is not concerned about possible sanctions and will continue Operation Peace Spring in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed on October 15 after a visit to Azerbaijan.
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| Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: TASS |
“Our goal is clear and we are not worried about possible sanctions. The Defense Forces in Syria are losing positions very quickly. Our task is to push the terrorists back 32 kilometers from our border (into Syrian territory),” TRT television quoted Erdogan as saying.
The Turkish president added that Ankara “continues to hold dialogue with Russia and the United States on the Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobani.”
“I do not consider the entry of Syrian government forces into Manbij as a negative development. Why? Because it is their territory after all,” Hurriyet newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying.
He added that it was necessary to “cleanse Manbij of terrorists”. “I told Russian President Vladimir Putin about this. If you clean Manbij of terrorist organizations, then do it and provide logistics yourself or together with the Syrian government forces. If you cannot do that, then the local peoples can ask us to come to their rescue, because Manbij is 85-90% Arab, not Kurdish,” he noted.
Earlier, on October 9, Ankara launched the Peace Spring military operation in northern Syria. The operation was announced to establish a buffer zone in northern Syria, along the Turkish border, where Syrian migrants could return from Turkey. Syria's SANA news agency criticized Ankara's operation as an act of aggression. The international community has condemned Ankara's actions.
