‘Turkey won't let a state be founded along its border’

By Yesim Sert Karaaslan

ANKARA

Any attempts to found a state along Turkey’s borders will end in failure, said Turkey’s prime minister on Tuesday.

Turkey will eliminate all threats along its borders “wherever they come from,” Binali Yildirim told the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Provincial Congress in the eastern Erzincan province.

“Those who want to found a state along our borders will be disappointed,” he said.

Referring to the terrorist PYD/PKK, the focus of the current Turkish-led operation in Afrin, northwestern Syria, along Turkey’s borders, Yildirim called on the U.S. “to cut its support to those murderers [PYD/PKK] and stop giving them weapons.”

“This is a dark, dead-end-street. You still have time to correct your mistake,” he said.

Turkey has blasted the U.S. support for PYD/PKK terror group -- calling it a “reliable ally” in the fight against Daesh, despite Turkey documenting its status as the Syrian off-shoot of the terrorist PKK.

Since July 2015, the PKK -- recognized as a terrorist group by the U.S., the EU, and Turkey -- has taken some 1,200 lives in Turkey, including security forces, women, and children.

Yildirim told ruling party members that Turkey would defend its territories “at all costs.”

“We have no designs on anyone’s territory, but we will not bow to anyone’s tyranny.”

Turkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, the military said.

The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming civilians.

Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without a fight.