The Ambassador of Turkey to Qatar, Fikret Ozer (pictured), has said that the Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring is to ensure the security of Turkey’s borders, keep terrorists away from them, protect Syrians from the persecution of terrorist organisations and facilitate safe and voluntary return of displaced Syrian citizens.
Addressing a press conference yesterday on the Turkish Operation, the Ambassador said that the terrorist threat in Syria and the targeting of Turkish borders is not limited to ISIS as during the last two years, especially from the east of the Euphrates River, Turkey had been subjected to more than 100 attacks or hostile acts carried out by the PKK and YPG.
He said that the military operation will continue until the threat of “terrorism” at the Turkey-Syria border is completely wiped out.
The Ambassador said: “We informed our allies about this terrorist threat and talked about a safe zone. We can no longer tolerate the presence of terrorists next to us, which is why we launched this military operation.”
“The main objectives of this operation are to ensure the security of our borders and to keep the terrorists away, in order to protect the Syrians as well. The operation is being carried out on the basis of international law and in accordance with the right of self-defence as provided in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations,” the Ambassador said.
He said that only terrorists and their military equipment would be targeted and no civilians would be targeted, which would make the operation take longer, otherwise it would have taken only two days.
The Ambassador of Turkey to Qatar, Fikret Ozer (pictured), said that there are many refugees from the areas in which the operation is being carried out, about 3,30,000 Kurds from these areas entered Turkey and could not return to their areas due to terrorism threat. “Only 15,000 people who stayed in those areas and the rest of refugees could not return to their homes,” he said.
He also said that Turkey is the only country fighting ISIS on the ground, and there is no army that fought them as strongly as Turkey fought against them.
The Ambassador added that the military operation is not intended to change the demographic structure of the area, but will enable many displaced people to return to their lands.
The Turkish Ambassador praised the positions of a number of countries that have reservations on the statement issued by the Arab League on the military operation including Qatar.
