UPDATE - PKK terror leaders ‘dealt with’ in Mt. Qandil: Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE ERDOGAN QUOTES

By Enes Kaplan

SANLIURFA, Turkey (AA) - Turkish military “dealt with” terrorist PKK leaders in an air operation in Mt. Qandil area, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Erdogan’s remarks came during his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s election rallies in southeastern Sanliurfa province.

“We conducted our first operation with 20 fighter jets and struck 10 significant points in Mt. Qandil area,” Erdogan said, adding: “In our second operation, we dealt with their leaders' team when they were at a meeting in Mt. Qandil area.”

On June 10, Turkish airstrikes destroyed 14 PKK terror targets in Mt. Qandil area, the military said.

Reiterating Turkey's firm stance in the fight against terrorism, Erdogan said the region covering Sanliurfa would also be liberated from terrorists, and handed down to Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, the real owners of the region.

During his address, the president also announced that an applied sciences university would be established in liberated northern Syrian city of al-Bab.

Erdogan said an applied sciences faculty would be established in al-Bab in coordination with Turkey's Maarif Foundation and Harran University.

"Classes will start in September 2018," he said.

Erdogan recalled that Syria's Jarablus and al-Bab towns and Afrin city were all cleared of terrorists after Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations.

"Nearly 200,000 Syrians returned to these areas, to Jarablus and now to Afrin. And now we have made a deal with America and are making Manbij a safer area.

- Operations continue in Iraq

"My Arab brothers in Manbij are returning and will return to their lands," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said Turkey established 12 observation points in Syria's Idlib and made the area safer for its residents.

He emphasized that Turkey's operations in northern Iraq continue destroying PKK terrorist organization.

Turkey has said the presence of terrorist forces near its border constitute a threat, and has launched military operations and other efforts to rid the region of terrorists.

Operation Euphrates Shield, which began in August 2016 and ended in March 2017, was aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat along the Turkish border with the use of the Free Syrian Army, backed by Turkish artillery and air cover.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from northwestern Syria's Afrin region. On March 18, Day 58 of the operation, Turkish troops, and Free Syrian Army members liberated the town of Afrin.

On Monday, the Turkish and U.S. forces began patrols in Syria's Manbij in line with a deal which was first announced after a meeting in Washington last week between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The Manbij deal focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from the northern Syrian city in order to stabilize the region.

Should the model prove to be a success, Turkey will push for a similar arrangement in eastern Syria.

In its over-30-year terrorist campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives, including those of women and children. The YPG/PKK is its Syrian branch.