“Our goal is clear. We are not worried over any sanctions,” Erdoğan says
Wed 16 October 2019:
Speaking on his way home from the 7th Summit of the Turkic Council in Baku, Azerbaijan, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan touched on a variety of subjects such as Turkey’s ongoing anti-terror operation in northern Syria, the YPG/PKK terror group’s mortar attacks in Turkey’s southern provinces and upcoming meetings with U.S. officials.
“They pressure us to halt the operation, announce sanctions,” he said, referring to Western countries.
“Our goal is clear. We are not worried over any sanctions,” Erdoğan asserted, adding the YPG/PKK was losing ground as Operation Peace Spring continued with success.
“We are on the seventh day of Operation Peace Spring. It continues with success as planned. We secured Ayn al-Arab on the fourth day and Tal Abyad on the fifth day by purging terrorists. Today, we have reached a 32-kilometer depth. We have control over the M4 highway,” he said.
The president said a total of 611 terrorists had been neutralized so far, with 556 of them killed, whereas the Turkish army and the Syrian National Army (SNA) have had four and 32 martyrs respectively.
“Our goal is clear: cleaning our borders of any terror elements and ensuring the safe return of the refugees…The operation will continue until the goals are achieved,” he added.
Erdoğan said the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) exercised great caution so they would not harm civilians, unlike the anti-Daesh coalition and the YPG/PKK’s operation in Mosul, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces, where thousands of civilians were killed.
“Unfortunately, the Western countries always ignored [civilian losses] and never talked about these. Now, they are trying to pressure us. Our operation had and has been against the terror groups,” he said.
“Our goal is clear: it is to make terrorists leave the 32-kilometer-long territory, and this [operational] line is secured by us, from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border.”
Sanctions on military equipment
“Turkey is now a self-sufficient country,” he said, adding the country is currently able to meet 70% of its needs through its own defense industry.
Recalling when Turkey purchased Russia’s S-400 missile system after the U.S. rejected selling it its Patriot defense system, he said: “There is no more desperation…You can buy anything from anywhere.”
Erdoğan went on to slam the European countries that suspended arms exports to Turkey and said Turkey was already offered alternative options.
Majority of Turkish opposition supports operation
The Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Iyi Party (IP) support the counterterror operation against the YPG/PKK, said Erdoğan.
He added that Defense Minister Hulusi Akar briefed all these parties regarding the latest developments of the operation and thanked them for their national solidarity.
The Turkish leader said U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and an accompanying delegation would visit Turkey to discuss the latest developments regarding the counterterror operation.
“I wish that tomorrow’s talks will bode well for us,” he said, adding Turkey was also closely in touch with Russian officials.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union — has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
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