ANKARA, August 8. /TASS/. Turkey will continue anti-terror operations to speed up the voluntary return of refugees to Syria and Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
"Our operations will continue until the end of terrorism that threatens the territorial integrity of Turkey and Iraq. Turkey has destroyed the plans of the separatist organization (Kurdistan Workers' Party, outlawed in Turkey - TASS) to establish a state in Syria. As the situation in Iraq and Syria stabilizes, the process of voluntary and safe return of refugees will accelerate," he said at the annual conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara.
According to Erdogan, Turkey "has in recent years become an actor in the international arena whose every move is being watched." "We intervene in the events in our region with our interests in mind and try to protect Turkey's interests with all the means of diplomacy, elements of hard and soft power," the Turkish president added.
The country has conducted three military operations in neighboring Syria in the past: Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Source of Peace. As a result, a security buffer zone was created between the border towns of Aazaz and Jerablus, Afrin was occupied, and the area east of the Euphrates River was brought under Turkish control.
The country's armed forces conduct regular operations and targeted strikes in Iraq against locations where the Kurdistan Workers' Party has camps, hideouts, command centers and weapons depots. The military is authorized for such cross-border operations by parliament, which has renewed the mandate in recent years. Baghdad, for its part, condemned the Turkish military's actions, calling them a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.