UPDATE - Operation Euphrates Shield to continue: Turkish PM

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY PM

ANKARA (AA) - Operation Euphrates Shield will continue to create a safe area in northern Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday.

"Activities to establish a safe area in the north of Syria will continue," Yildirim told reporters before a Justice and Development (AK) Party central executive committee meeting in the capital Ankara.

Yildirim added that the Operation Euphrates Shield will be conducted until the security is provided completely along Turkish borders and the threats against citizens are removed.

Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Aug. 24, aims at improving security, supporting coalition forces and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery, and jets.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

Yildirim also mentioned the suspension of state officials who are suspected to have links with the terrorist PKK.

On Thursday, Turkey’s Education Ministry suspended over 11,000 schoolteachers over suspected links with the PKK.

The prime minister said that dismissals of allegedly PKK-linked personnel would also continue in the Interior Ministry, governorships and in municipalities.

"How this will be done is stated clearly in the decrees," he added.

He said that Turkey defeated the July 15 coup attempt while it was fighting a terrorist organization that wanted to divide the country.

The Turkish government says U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen organized the July 15 coup attempt, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Since then, PKK terrorist attacks martyred more than 600 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while more than 7,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.​