Erdogan: We’ll complete our work in Syria in due course

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on counterterrorism that his country will complete its work in Syria when the time is right.

This came in a speech to the Turkish people, Monday, after chairing a cabinet meeting at the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara.

Erdogan said, “Certainly, when the time and the hour come, we will complete our work in Syria, which was left incomplete because of the promises made and reneged on by our allies”.

Over the past years, Turkish forces, in cooperation with the Syrian National Army, have carried out operations Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Peace Spring in northern Syria, against ISIS and PKK/YPG.

Erdogan added, “I want it to be known; as long as the PKK finds an outlet for itself in Iraq and Syria, we cannot feel safe at all”.

“Terrorists in the Qandil Mountains and in northern Syria will continue to intervene against Türkiye, its policy and its citizens at every opportunity; No country accepts this,” Erdogan said.

Türkiye carries out operations to combat the PKK, which targets its forces and citizens, and is active in several countries in the region, including Syria, Iraq and Iran.

PKK is based in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, and is active in many cities, regions and valleys, launching attacks on the Turkish interior.

The Turkish president touched on his visit to Iraq on April 22, and the important results it achieved, especially after meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al Sudani.

Erdogan pointed out that they discussed in detail the issues on their common agenda, especially security, transport, energy and water, and indicated that the visit culminated in the signing of 27 agreements in various fields.

The Turkish president stressed that their goal is to raise the volume of trade with Iraq from $ 20 billion to higher levels.

He praised the Iraqi government’s declaration of the PKK as a terrorist organization and considered the step important in the context of the war on terror.