Burcu Arik
06 January 2017•Update: 07 January 2017
By Ilhan Toprak
SANLIURFA, Turkey
Turkey will remain resolute in its fight to clear all forms of terrorism from Syria's Manbij and al-Bab, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
Speaking during an inauguration ceremony in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Erdogan said that Turkey's ongoing operation to take control of the northern Syrian towns of Al-Bab and Manbij from the terror organization continued.
Criticizing the U.S.-led coalition forces, the president said Turkey has been left to combat Daesh alone in the region, without any help of its allies.
"They started the Mosul operation to put Turkey in trouble and decelerated it, and then they delayed the Raqqa operation. Daesh is there. You were saying Daesh was an element to fight against. Why don't you fight against the group?"
"They saw that Turkey was achieving results and then they changed their plans. We will not stop until we clear Manbij, al-Bab and other regions from terror," Erdogan said.
He said that Turkey would do everything necessary to "ensure that our brothers in Iraq and Syria have peace. If we have no [military] support, we will continue with our own means," he added.
Located 30 kilometers from the Turkish border, Al-Bab (the door in Arabic) used to be home to around 64,000 people – mainly Sunni Arabs -- before the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The town was famous as one of the active trade centers in Syria and has a special location as it is located on many roads connecting the cities of Latakia, Aleppo, Raqqa, al-Hasakah and Iraq’s Mosul.
The Turkish army has been supporting opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters to liberate Al-Bab from Daesh, a strategic city for the terrorist group. Saturday marks the 123rd day since the city was surrounded with a view to liberating it.
The operation is part of the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield, which began in late August with the aim of improving security, supporting coalition forces, and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s border.
Around 840 square kilometers between the Syrian cities of Azaz and Jarabulus have been cleared from Daesh militants since the operation was launched in August.
Clearing the town from the terrorist group will keep Daesh militants 30-35 kilometers from the Turkish border and will help create a safe area for Syrian refugees.
The operation is also meant to keep the town away from the Assad regime forces and PKK/PYD terrorists, which seek to create a “state” in northern Syria.
The PKK/PYD failure to capture Al-Bab town means that it will not be able to connect Manbij city on the west bank of Euphrates River with Afrin city near the Turkish border.
On Nov. 13, Turkish forces-backed FSA fighters managed to capture positions two kilometers from Al-Bab.
And on Dec. 9, the FSA began to advance on the town’s center, but they were met with fierce resistance as Daesh militants used car bombs and booby traps to hinder the FSA advance into the town.
