Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the opening ceremony of the new legislative year of the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, on Oct. 1, 2019. He revealed for the first time the plans for resettling 2 million people in the safe zone to be built in northern Syria. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)
Turkish army said it's ready for launching a military operation to build a safe zone in northern Syria, though Damascus vowed to defend its territories to reject any form of occupation by foreign forces.
ANKARA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkish army has completed all preparations for a military operation in the east of Euphrates River in Syria to establish a safe zone, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"The establishment of a Safe Zone/Peace Corridor is indispensable for Syrians to have a safe life by contributing to the stability and peace of our region," the ministry said on Twitter.
"Turkish Armed Forces will never tolerate the creation of a terror corridor at our borders. All preparations for the operation have been completed," said the ministry.
However, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Tuesday that the Syrian government will defend all Syrian areas and will not accept any form of occupation by foreign forces.
Mekdad made the remarks in reference to the Turkish military campaign against the Kurdish forces in Kurdish-controlled areas in northern and northeastern Syria, reported the pro-government al-Watan news website.
Turkey has already made its decision for clearing northern Syria of "terrorists," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, vowing to launch a military campaign into the east of Euphrates at any moment.
He announced that U.S. troops have started withdrawing from northern Syria after he held a phone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump late on Sunday.
"Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement, noting that the U.S. would not intervene in a Turkish offensive.
The People's Protection Units (YPG), which controls the east of the Euphrates, was a key partner of the United States in the fight against the Islamic State, but Ankara considers it as a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in Syria. ■
