Metin Kulunk said that Turkey's goal in the course of the military operations in Syria is to destroy terrorist elements in Afrin and Manbij and until that goal is achieved, the operation cannot be considered successful.
“We consider the approach taken by the United States on Syrian territory to be absolutely unacceptable, protecting and assisting a terrorist organization threatening Turkey's national security, and as an excuse to cover up the struggle with another terrorist structure,” Kulunk said.
“The Turkish border must be completely cleared of the threat to our territorial integrity. And we are sure that the Olive Branch operation launched in Afrin will continue till the victorious end and will justify the expectations of the Turkish people, who know firsthand what the struggle for protecting national interests is like,” the deputy told Sputnik Turkey.
Further, looking at the US interests in the region, Kulunk said that the country should abandon the attempt to create an army of terrorists from the “monsters that they trained and armed”.
“We are already fed up with their [US] statements and unfulfilled promises. The US is trying to sabotage the efforts made by the trilateral alliance of Turkey, Russia and Iran to stabilize the situation in Syria within the framework of the Astana and Sochi processes,” according to the deputy.
According to the deputy, “the only right step that the US can take in this situation is to put an end to its support of the PKK terrorist organization and Daesh, acting in conjunction with it.”
The US must also allow the transfer of Afrin to the residents of Afrin and Manbij to its residents in order to preserve the demographic structure existing in the region and to ensure the peaceful coexistence in Syria of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens and other peoples.
“The US should follow a path of clearing the region of terrorism, while they must give up the desire to teach Turkey,” Kulunk concluded.
The latter is considered to be connected to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist group in Turkey and several other countries.
Despite opposition to the operation by many members of the international community, Ankara has stressed that the advance is not aimed against the Syrian government, calling the territorial integrity of Syria its mutual goal with Damascus.
The Syrian government has, however, denounced the operation as a violation of Syria's sovereignty. For its part, Russia has called upon all parties involved to exercise restraint and respect Syria’s territorial integrity.
