Operation to go on until terror corridor – Manbij, Ayn al-Arab, Tell Abyad, Ras al-Ayn, Qamishli – is wiped out: President Erdogan
The Turkey-led military operation in Syria’s Afrin region will continue until the terror corridor through Manbij, Ayn al-Arab, Tell Abyad, Ras al-Ayn, and Qamishli gets wiped out, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.
Erdogan’s remarks came after Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army fighters took control of Afrin town center early on Sunday.
Speaking at the Bestepe Culture and Congress Center in the presidential complex in capital Ankara, the president said: “The military operation will go on until the terror corridor through Manbij, Ayn al-Arab, Tell Abyad, Ras al-Ayn, Qamishli has been wiped out.”
Moreover, he said 3,622 terrorists had been “neutralized” since the beginning of Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria’s Afrin.
Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.
Erdogan said the most important stage of the Operation Olive Branch was completed after taking control of Afrin city center.
“We have eliminated most of the terror corridor in the region,” he said.
A possible operation to Sinjar
Erdogan also hinted at another operation against the PKK terror group in the Iraqi city of Sinjar.
“We can suddenly come over one night in Iraq’s Sinjar and eliminate PKK terrorists there,” the president said.
In mid-2014, the PKK managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar on the pretext that it was “protecting” the local Ezidi community from the Daesh terrorist group.
Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear terrorist groups from Afrin in northwestern Syria amid growing threats posed from the region.
On Sunday, Turkish-backed troops liberated the town of Afrin, which had been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since 2012.
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