He said that former U.S. president Barack Obama had deceived Turkey.
“We started ‘Olive grove’ movement during the Obama’s presidency. Our aim was to clear Manbij region. However, the Obama administration didn’t keep its word. We did everything that depended on us, but the U.S. did not. They promised that they will lead terrorists in Manbij to the east of the Euphrates river,” said Erdogan.
“But they did not live up to their promise as they intend to establish a new terrorist state. They want to call it ‘Kurdish state’, while in fact it is Arabs who make up 95% of Manbij’s population. In Kobani, on the other hand, most of the population were also Arabs but they [PYD/YPG] drove Arabs out the town and placed terrorist therein,” he added.
The Turkish leader noted that in the Olive Branch operation being carried out by the Turkish Army to clear Syria’s Afrin region of PYD/YPG, 7-8 soldiers—including members of the Free Syrian Army—have been killed.
“The number of the terrorists eliminated stands at 268. We will eradicate terrorists on that land. The operation will not cease unless the terrorists in Afrin were wiped out completely,” he said.
APA
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