“Without discriminating among terror organizations, Turkey is determined to take the steps necessary to ensure the security of its citizens both in the country and in neighboring countries where terror organizations nestle”, Erdoğan said.
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Tuesday, Turkey commemorates the 94th anniversary of the decisive battle in the War of Independence – the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922 against Greek forces.
The coalition includes Syrian Kurdish YPG militia; a group Turkish officials consider a terrorist organisation.
The US-led coalition has been backing the YPG with training and equipment to fight IS, while at the same time the United States has also supported Syrian opposition groups fighting with the Turks in northern Syria. “Unity of focus on ISIL over the coming days and weeks is imperative”, Cook said, using the administration’s preferred acronym for the terrorist group.
Syria’s government has condemned the Turkish incursion but has stayed out of the conflict.
Monitoring groups have reported dozens of civilians killed in the strikes, which Turkey has denied.
Turkey’s operation aims to push the YPG back across the Euphrates River to prevent it joining up the region east of the river already under its control with a Kurdish-held area to the west.
The International Red Cross says 19 trucks carrying aid have entered a hard-to-reach area north of the central Syrian city of Homs.
The ICRC says the trucks are bringing to Dar al-Kabira aid for 33,500 people, including food parcels, toiletries and medical items, as well as materials to fix the existing boreholes and the water network.
Hundreds of thousands of people are either in besieged or hard to reach areas throughout Syria.
The Washington-backed Kurdish SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) alliance has announced its withdrawal south in the wake of a reported 61 Ankara-ordered artillery strikes around Jarablus in 24 hours.
The United States is backing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State.
Turkey accuses the YPG of being an offshoot of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a deadly insurgency on Turkish territory for over three decades.
The council says its fighters will withdraw to areas south of the Sajour River, a tributary of the Euphrates.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke Monday, as Syrian opposition groups reported that Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have captured more towns and villages in northern Syria.
The move is not likely to be accepted by Turkey, since Ankara wants the rebels to withdraw east of the Euphrates.
On Monday, Turkish-backed forces advanced on Manbij, a city about 30 km (20 miles) south of Turkey’s border captured this month by the SDF with USA help.
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Earlier this month, the Kurdish-led force known as the Syria Democratic Forces crossed the Euphrates and drove IS militants out of Manbij, a key supply hub south of Jarablus, after a 10-week campaign. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective, said the rebels captured seven more villages since late Sunday.
