Türkiye will complete a safe zone near its Syrian borders from east to west, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday.
Addressing an event marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the president said: "We will complete the security belt we are creating beyond our borders from west to east."
"With the security belt we are creating beyond our borders, we also defend the rights of millions of innocent women and children."
"By completing this belt across all our borders from west to east as soon as possible, we will ensure that both our own citizens and the people living there can look to their future with confidence," he added.
Early Sunday, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing, the YPG, which have illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on Turkish soil.
The country's air operation followed a PKK/YPG terrorist attack on Nov. 13 on Istanbul's crowded Istiklal Street that killed six people and left 81 injured.
After the air operation was launched, President Erdoğan also signaled a ground operation to northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terror threat, saying: "This is not limited to just an air operation."
The Turkish leader has threatened a new military operation into northern Syria since May and upped those threats in the wake of this month's attack. Erdoğan has repeatedly called for a 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) "safe zone" to protect Türkiye against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory.
