Erdogan vows to continue attacks in Syria, Iraq
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Tuesday to expand military operations in Syria and Iraq.
This came following a cabinet meeting where Erdogan announced that Turkish aircraft hit 114 targets in Syria and Iraq over the past five days. He added that 60 infrastructure and facilities were also destroyed by Turkey’s intelligence agency.
“We will not stop until the terror nests in Syria … are completely destroyed,” he said.
In the first half of January, Turkey bombed a total of 89 sites, including civilian and service facilities and infrastructure, across northeastern Syria with 122 airstrikes, according to the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press.
It is not clear whether Turkey would carry out another ground operation in Northeast Syria, as it has in the past, but Erdogan made his intentions clear that he is determined to eliminate what he described as “the source of terrorist actions” in Syria and Iraq.
“God willing, in the coming months, we will definitely take new steps in this direction, regardless of who says what, what threats they make or what their plans are,” Erdogan pointed out.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) stated that Turkish airstrikes targeted service facilities and infrastructure, depriving hundreds of thousands of the population of water, electricity, and oil necessary for providing basic living services.
Badran Chiya Kurd, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the AANES held the U.S. and the Russian Federation directly responsible for the Turkish attacks and called on both states to pressure Turkey to stop its attacks.
The AANES also added that Turkish attacks on Northeastern Syria also undermine the efforts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which partnered with the U.S.-led Global Coalition, in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) and risk a resurgence of the group.