End of Euphrates Shield, says Turkish Security Council

By Enes Kaplan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s operation in northern Syria has been successfully concluded, a statement from National Security Council read on Wednesday.

Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched last August “has been concluded successfully”, according to the statement after a four-hour meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.

Turkey had been carrying out a military operation in northern Syria. Led by Free Syrian Army fighters, the operation aimed to improve security, support coalition forces and eliminate the terror threat along the Turkish border.

The council discussed "some European countries’ attitudes contrary to international law and diplomatic customs against Turkish politicians," the statement read.

“Measures that could be taken by our state to protect the rights of our citizens who have faced physical attacks have been discussed,” the statement added.

Ankara has heavily criticized European states after the authorities in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands banned several campaign rallies ahead of Turkey’s April 16 referendum on sweeping constitutional changes.

President Erdogan compared the bans to Nazi-era practices and also accused European governments of taking sides in Turkey’s referendum by favoring the No campaign.

On the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, the statement added that Ankara’s allies’ financial and military supplies to groups that are considered to be terrorist by Turkey would damage the country’s friendly relations with them.

The YPG-backed Syrian Democratic Forces has been Washington's principle partner in the anti-Daesh fight in northern Syria, vexing Ankara. Turkey views the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which has been listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S.