Turkey to Continue Operation in Syria Despite Damascus Forces' Attacks on FSA

Turkey will continue its military Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria despite Syrian government forces' attacks on Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army's (FSA) positions, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Turkey's General Staff said that a military helicopter belonging to the Syrian government forces had attacked the positions of FSA fighters in the city of Marea in northern Aleppo Governorate.

"We will not stop fighting against the Daesh terrorist group due to the regime forces' attacks. The Euphrates Shield operation will be continued until retaking of the city of al-Bab in order to create a security zone for the return of refugees," Cavusoglu said at a press conference.

On August 24, the Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield aimed at freeing the Syrian northern territories from terrorists and creating security zones for accommodation of refugees. After liberating the Syrian border town of Jarablus and the surrounding area of Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, the Turkish forces continued offensive in the southwest direction.

Turkish forces regularly come into confrontation with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military wing People's Protection Units (YPG) operating in Syria, which Ankara considers to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey.