Syria's Jarabulus freed from Kurdish militants: PM

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

The Syrian city of Jarabulus has been completely liberated from militants of the YPG (Kurdish People's Protection Units) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD, the Kurdish political party), Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, Anadolu Agency reported on August 25.

The villages surrounding Jarabulus city have also been liberated, Yildirim added. 

On August 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force with the support of the coalition aircraft launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo city.

The operation was carried out under the name “Shield of the Euphrates.”

Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border.

Turkish President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that the most important issue in the region was the fight against terrorism whether Daesh, the PKK, the PYD or FETO, adding that it is impossible to make distinctions between those organizations since terrorists are terrorists.

In reference to the PYD, which is reportedly fighting Daesh in Syria, Erdogan stressed that one terrorist organization fighting with another one does not justify it.

Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Anadolu Agency that the U.S.-led coalition's air strikes were in support of Turkey's operation and vetted Syrian opposition forces seeking to clear Daesh from Jarabulus.

In addition, Turkey's Euphrates Shield operation received support from Europe as well.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said that the Euphrates Shield operation was a part of international efforts to overcome Daesh in the region.

“We respect this position. We believe Turkey’s struggle against terrorist actions is legitimate and we support Turkey in this regard" he added.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The “Islamic State” (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) is the most active terrorist group in Syria.