Turkey’s president said on Sunday that the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch captured a strategic peak in Afrin, Syria that has been used to launch cross-border attacks.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks came during the 6th ordinary provincial congress of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in northern Amasya province.
"Now, it will be more easier to assert dominance in the region from there [Mt. Bursaya]," Erdogan said.
The capture came after Turkish forces and FSA fighters under the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch advanced to the peak from the northwestern Syrian city of Azaz.
The terrorist group has used Mt. Bursaya to target civilians in the center of Turkey’s Kilis province and Syria’s Azaz district through mortar shells, artillery, and missiles.
On Wednesday, two civilians were killed by a PYD/PKK attack on a mosque in Kilis, and, on Saturday, at least three civilians, including a child, were injured by PYD/PKK terrorist attacks on Kilis and Hatay.
Eliminating terrorists from Mt. Bursaya will help Turkey reduce the terror threat at its border and protect civilians in Syria.
The president said that Turkey has received positive and encouraging responses from the local community after the launch of the operation.
“You know what the local people say when they hear Afrin’s villages are freed from terrorists by our soldiers? ‘Turks came, we are safe now,’ they say,” Erdogan told the crowd.
Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012 when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without a fight.