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Turkiye to start new military operation in northern Syria

May 24, 2022 at 7:30 pm

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 23, 2022 [Aytaç Ünal/Anadolu Agency]

Turkiye will soon launch a new military operation along its southern borders to combat terrorism threats to these regions, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday, Turkish daily newspaper Daily Sabah reports.

According to the report, the new operation will resume efforts to create 30-kilometre (18.6-mile) wide safe zones along Turkiye’s border with Syria, Erdogan said in a televised address after a Cabinet meeting in the capital, Ankara.

“We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete portions of the project we started on the 30-kilometre deep safe zone we established along our southern border,” the President said.

“The main target of these operations will be areas that are centre of attacks to our country and safe zones,” Erdogan noted.

Since 2016, Turkiye has initiated counter-terrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents – namely, Euphrates Shield in 2016, Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019.

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