Turkey launches operation in Syria ‘for security’

Turkey has announced the beginning of a new military operation into Idlib province in Syria as part of a deal with Russia and Iran, in an attempt to create de-escalation zones and also prevent Syrian Kurdish groups from building a “terror corridor” along the Syrian border toward the Mediterranean Sea. The Turkish Armed Forces on early Oct. 8 shelled positions in jihadist-controlled Idlib in support of the advance of Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters on the ground, a day after Ankara announced the start of an operation there. “The [operation] process, which began yesterday and started to be implemented today, is continuing together with the Free Syrian Army without any problems”, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. Erdoğan underlined that the operation into Idlib, just like the Euphrates Shield Operation, is part of Ankara’s strategy to eliminate security threats at their source. “We are obliged to break this terror corridor from the east toward the Mediterranean. We cannot tolerate this. Otherwise we’ll suffer from another Kobane [incident]. We don’t want that and we won’t allow it”, Erdoğan said.