Turkey renewed its determination to prevent the establishment of what it called a “terrorist corridor” on its southern border with Syria.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said his country would not allow the establishment of a “terrorist corridor” in northern Syria, which would threaten the security and stability of Turkey, pointing out that the alleged pathway has failed thanks to the efforts of the Turkish armed forces.
Akar visited on Tuesday military units and soldiers working along the border area with Syria, where he made an inspection visit to the command of the joint special forces, and the tomb of Suleiman Shah in the northern Syrian village of Asmeh.
“We respect the territorial integrity of the neighboring countries; the military operations we are carrying out in Syria and Iraq are not optional, but necessary to eradicate the terrorist organizations based in these areas,” he said.
He emphasized that the Turkish Army has assumed the responsibility and the task of combating ISIS, and would effectively pursue this commitment in the coming days.
Akar and his accompanying military commanders were updated about the activities of Turkish troops stationed near the Syrian border and met with commanders of military units, where they heard an assessment of the military and political developments in the region.
Akar stressed that Turkey was closely monitoring developments in the region and that it was doing everything in its power to end the tragedy and instability.
He noted that the agreement reached on the situation in the province of Idlib, between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in Sochi, on September 17, over the establishment of a demilitarized buffer zone between the regime forces and armed groups in the city “has prevented the occurrence of a new human tragedy in Syria.”
