ANKARA 

Turkish authorities have distributed humanitarian aid to people in need in areas of northern Syria which were liberated from terrorists in an operation last year, the provincial governor's office said Thursday.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in coordination with the Syria Support and Coordination Center, a division of the governor's office of Turkey's southeastern Sanliurfa province, gave food parcels to the needy in Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad districts.

AFAD, which organizes humanitarian aid distributions in neighborhoods and villages where families with no income are located, provides families with food parcels -- enough for at least one month -- based on the number of family members.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad were cleared of terrorists last October during Turkey's Operation Peace Spring, which was launched to eliminate YPG/PKK terrorists in the region east of the Euphrates River to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

Since then, Turkey has reached agreements with both the US and Russia to force the terrorist group to withdraw from the planned terror-free zone.

However, the YPG/PKK has continued to carry out attacks in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn districts despite pulling out of areas under a deal reached by Turkey and the US on Oct. 17.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK --listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU-- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.