Erdogan: Army entered Syria to end Assad's rule

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his army launched a military operation in Syria in order to end the rule of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

“In my estimation, nearly one million people have died in Syria. These deaths are still continuing without exception for children, women and men. We preached patience but could not endure in the end and had to enter Syria together with the Free Syrian Army [FSA],” Erdogan said at the first Inter-Parliamentary Jerusalem Platform Symposium in Istanbul.

“We do not have an eye on Syrian soil. The issue is to provide lands to their real owners. We are there to bring justice. We are there to end the rule of the cruel Assad, who has been spreading state terror. [We didn’t enter] for any other reason,” the president said.

The Turkish army launched the “Operation Euphrates Shield” in Syria with Free Syrian Army fighters to clear the country’s southern border of Daesh.