Erdogan: Thousands died from delay in Syrian safe zone

Tens of thousands of people died because a safe zone was not implemented quickly enough in northern Syria, Anadolu Agency reported, quoting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington today.

Erdogan made the comments during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump following four hours of bilateral meetings that also included a sit-down with Republican senators.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Oct 9 to eliminate People's Defence Units (YPG) and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey's borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria's territorial integrity.

On Oct 17, US and Turkey came to an agreement to pause the operation to allow the withdrawal of terrorist YPG/PKK forces from the planned safe zone, where Ankara wants to repatriate millions of Syrian refugees it is hosting.

Turkey first requested the establishment of the safe zone during a G20 meeting in Antalya in 2015.

Erdogan said that during the operation, Turkey secured the return of 365,000 Syrians to Jarablus, the northern border town that was cleared during the operation.

Erdogan reiterated that Turkey "has no problem with Kurds" and only takes issue with terrorist organisations.

Turning to the anti-Islamic State (IS) fight, Trump said Turkey is helping "a lot" in the effort, capturing all IS militants escaping prisons controlled by the YPG/PKK.

Erdogan added that "Turkey and the US can work together to bring peace, stability to Syria and completely finish" the IS terror organisation.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. -- Bernama