UPDATE - Europe owes its safety to Turkey’s sacrifices: Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES BY ERDOGAN

By Ahmet Salih Alacaci

ANKARA (AA) - Europe owes its current peace to the sacrifices of Turkey and its people, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Speaking at a rally in southeastern Kahramanmaras province, Erdogan said the Syrians, who fled civil war in their country and took shelter in Turkey, "missed their country."

"They [Syrians] want to return to their homeland as soon as possible," he added.

The Turkish president said around 311,000 Syrians have returned to areas in Afrin, Jarablus and Idlib that are cleared of terrorists by Turkish forces and its allies.

Erdogan noted that Turkey was pushing to make the region of Idlib totally secure and said Ankara had made "significant progress" in talks with Russia and Iran in this regard.

He underlined if cooperation from these countries was not possible, Ankara was determined to reach this goal via its own efforts

He said other countries had not come to Turkey’s aid when terror groups began cross-border attacks against it.

Calling for support from Europe and the U.S. for Turkey’s efforts to facilitate the return of Syrians to their country, Erdogan stressed at least 500,000 Syrians were waiting for Turkey to secure the northern Syrian town of Manbij -- currently under the control of the YPG/PKK terror group -- before being able to return to the region.

He said that Syrians would not seek to travel to other countries if they were given the opportunity to a "humane" life in a safe zone established in their country by Turkey, adding that locals did not differentiate between Daesh and the YPG/PKK terror groups.

"Millions of Syrians will return home when we secure the east of the Euphrates [River]," Erdogan said, adding that this issue was also important for the security of Turkey’s own borders and people.

Turkey has promised a counter-terrorist operation east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, following two similar successful operations since 2016.

Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, including Al-Bab, Afrin and Azaz, making it possible for Syrians who fled the violence there to return home.

In its 30-year terror campaign, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.