Erdogan: Turkey plans military operation in Syria

Turkey will carry out air and ground operations in east of Euphrates in Syria to establish peace there, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday (October 5).

"Turkey saw that land and air patrols with US were a tale; we carried out preparations for the safe zone (in Syria) and gave necessary orders. We will carry out this operation both on land and air as soon as today or tomorrow," Erdogan said.

Turkey aims to establish peace in the east of the Euphrates River in Syria after clearing the region of terrorists, the president added.

Turkish and US military officials agreed on Aug. 7 to set up a safe zone in northern Syria and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the movement of displaced Syrians who want to return to their homeland.

Turkish leaders have said the US is not doing enough to establish the zone, which could house some 2-3 million Syrians who fled the Syrian war since 2011.

Based on DS