Expect move against terrorists soon: Turkish leader

By Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s president told military cadets on Wednesday that they could soon expect a new counter-terrorist operation across the border into northern Syria.

“You will soon clear Manbij and east of the Euphrates River of terrorist groups," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told cadets at the National Defense University in the Turkish capital Ankara.

The Turkish army is "the greatest power" against those who want to besiege the country via terrorist groups, he said, in his address after a fast-breaking meal for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

He added that Turkish soldiers made history with two previous successful counter-terrorist operations in Syria since 2016, Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch.

A mission east of the Euphrates River, which Erdogan has been suggesting for months, would -- like its predecessors -- be meant to eradicate the presence of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists near Turkey’s borders.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.