Holding business with terrorists 'humiliating' for US

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish prime minister said on Thursday the U.S. cooperation with terrorist organizations is "self-humiliating" for Washington.

"It is really very humiliating for America to hold business with terror organizations, [and] take actions it planned with a terror organization in the region," Binali Yildirim said at a signing ceremony to introduce countrywide all-in-one payment system in Ankara.

Yildirim said Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region is continuing as planned and added that more than 300 terrorists have been killed so far as part of the operation.

On Saturday, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to protect the Syrian people from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council’s decisions, self-defense rights under the UN charter and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.

Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012 when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without putting up a fight.