ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday blasted the international community for what he said was inaction in Syria, asking whether the world was waiting for a million dead in the war-torn country before taking serious action.
“More than 600,000 civilians have been killed due to the war in Syria,” Erdogan said at the opening of the parliament’s new legislative year.
“Should the international community wait until the figure reaches a million dead?” he said.
He also wondered how the Islamic State (ISIS) could still exist in many parts of Syria and Iraq, despite a global coalition fighting against it for two years.
“This is the fifth year in Syria and third year in Iraq since ISIS emerged,” Erdogan said, claiming there is a “plot” to maintain tension and instability in the region.
He said that is why his country had launched an incursion deep into Syria to clear the border areas from “terrorist groups.”
“On the world stage, nobody opposed our operations in Syria, and so far Operation Euphrates Shield has cleared 5,000 square kilometers from Daesh (ISIS),” Erdogan said.
In a part of his speech the Turkish president accused the United States of supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its allied PYD and YPG forces, in Syria.
“America is working with PKK, PYD and YPG and opposing Turkey and Saudi Arabia and that is a giant mistake they make,” he warned.
He also claimed there are attempts to let the PKK take part in a looming offensive on the ISIS-held city of Mosul in northern Iraq. “We will never accept that,” he warned.
The Mosul offensive is anticipated to kick off soon, maybe as early as next month, and Erdogan vowed Turkish “will play a role” in the battle as well.
Erdogan had earlier revealed the timing for the battle to push ISIS out of its stronghold of Mosul as October 19.
Turkish armed forces are in Bashiqa, northern Mosul, providing training for Peshmerga and Iraqi Sunni forces.
Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament extended the mandate to send military troops abroad for another 13 months.
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