Erdoğan says safety of nation priority over cross-border operations
by Daily Sabah
ISTANBULFeb 25, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah
Feb 25, 2015 12:00 am
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that both the operations to relocate the Tomb of Süleyman Shah in Syria and to save the hostages from the Turkish Consulate held by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Mosul were conducted with the lives of citizens as the top priority. "Our top priority has always been defusing the crisis without letting any of our people get hurt. We have lost no territory in Syria. The Ashmeh region allocated as the new spot for the tomb is a safer place," Erdoğan said.
A Turkish force crossed the Syrian border late on Saturday with 572 troops, 39 tanks and over 150 other vehicles to relocate the Tomb of Süleyman Shah to a location closer to Turkey due to rising threats from ISIS, which had surrounded the tomb. The operation, which was conducted in accordance with the rights granted by international law, has been slammed by the opposition, which insisted that the withdrawal meant a "loss of territory" for Turkey."They are disturbed by the operation. If this is the main opposition, we are on the right path. They keep saying there has been negotiations with the PYD [Democratic Union Party]. We are not down to cooperate with a terrorist organization," Erdoğan also said.
Following the operation there has been speculation circulating in the media and fed by the opposition that Turkey worked with Kurdish factions in the region, which is why no clashes erupted. However, government officials have firmly denied the allegation and stressed there would be no negotiation with "terrorists."
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