ANKARA, Oct 15 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish Armed Forces have taken control of Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn towns in northern Syria, Turkish Minister of Defence, Hulusi Akar, said.
“Tel Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn are under control. The work for the control of the region is ongoing,” he told reporters, noting “support given by the citizens in Tel Abyad and in Ras Al-Ayn” to Turkey.
The minister said, Turkey is determined to do its best on the issue of captured members of the Daesh, in the area that Operation Peace Spring covers in Syria, but the only prison in this region was emptied by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), before the Turkish troops arrived.
“When we got there, we saw that the Deash prison was emptied. We have detected that the YPG have taken the Daesh members,” he said.
Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria continues in its sixth day. Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said, the operation would extend from northern Kobani in the west, to Hasakah in the east, and go deep into some 30 km into Syrian territory.
As a result, a depth of 30-35 km has been reached and the M-4 highway has been taken under control, the defence ministry said.
Ankara wants to clear east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria of the YPG, which Turkey sees as the Syrian affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organisation also by the United States and the European Union.– NNN-ANADOLU