‘Turkey searching safe-zone, peace corridor in Syria'

Addressing a news conference, Celik said it would be unacceptable for Turkey to leave Middle East, while the countries in the world remain there. He stressed that Turkey has strength and capacity to establish a safe-zone in northern Syria.

Ankara and Washington have yet to hammer an agreement on the safe-zone.

Turkey expects the creation of a 20-mile (32-kilometer) safe-zone in northern Syria. It wants to clear the region from the YPG/PYD terror groups.

YPG/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of terror group PKK, which has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Turkey, including many children, women and infants, for more than 30 years.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

He further said that Islamophobia was threatening all religions and sought to explore the linkages between the Texas and New Zealand attackers.

“Ideological link of Texas and New Zealand attackers must be considered,” Celik said.

On March 15, 2019, terrorist Brenton Tarrant attacked two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers and killed 51 people and wounded 49 others.

Celik also stressed an early election is not on the agenda, adding: “Turkey is determined to carry out its needs in foreign policy, and to continue the reform process in domestic politics.”