Forces would go into Syrian territory under Ankara’s safe-zone project: Turkish president

The operation would be completed after taking control of Hasaka and Ayn al-Arab, Recep Tayyab Erdogan

Istanbul: Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkish President said that Turkish forces would “go down to a depth of 30-35 km” into Syrian territory.he said this has planned under Ankara’s safe-zone project.

The operation would be completed after taking control of Hasaka and Ayn al-Arab,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Istanbul.

Recep said announced that Turkish forces and their allies from Syrian rebels had so far taken control of 109 square km of land in Syria, including 17 villages around Tel Abyad.

Remember that, Turkey launched the so-called Operation Peace Spring on Wednesday against the Kurdish militia seen by Ankara as a terror group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This came after no headway was made in the establishment of the safe zone in Syria’s northeast as agreed with the United States in August.

“A total of 18 civilians, most of them children, were killed, while 147 people were injured in PKK’s attacks on Turkey’s border,” Erdogan said, adding a total of 652 mortar and rocket shells were fired on the Turkish provinces of Sanliurfa, Mardin, Sirnak and Gaziantep.