'Turkey will block PKK's Syrian terror corridor'

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s president said on Tuesday that it was time to counter the PKK terrorists from forming a corridor in northern Syria, along Turkey’s borders.

Speaking to his party's lawmakers on Tuesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of a possible Turkish army operation into the Afrin district of Syria’s Aleppo province.

"It is time to block the separatist terror group from forming a terror corridor along Syria," said Erdogan.

"We will complete this process by securing all our borders," he added, referring to a possible Afrin operation.

Any Afrin operation would follow on Turkey's successful seven-month Operation Euphrates Shield, which ended last March.

Erdogan also praised "the firm stand" of the people of eastern Turkey during northern Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government's illegitimate referendum last September.

The illegal poll was condemned by the international community.

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

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children.