'Turkey in historic, vital struggle for its present, future'

ANKARA

Turkey is in a historic and vital struggle for its present and future, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

"We continue our efforts day and night by protecting the interests of our country and for our nation to come out with a victory […] which will be at least as big as 100 years ago," Erdogan said on Twitter.

Erdogan said Turkey acts with an awareness that shying away with struggle and not taking care of the unity in the geography, which has always been subjected to "occupations and oppressions" throughout history, will result in "paying a bigger price".

He wished Allah's mercy upon all martyrs who lost their lives in the "great struggle" for the motherland.

"The righteous struggle against oppression will continue till the end," he said.

Noting that Turkey will never step back from its struggle, Erdogan said no martyr's blood will be left on the ground, and no betrayal will be forgotten.

"As long as the nation is by us, we [Turkey] can overcome every difficulty, give historic lesson to those who think they can put us to corner," he said.

At least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and tens of others injured in an airstrike by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in Syria's Idlib late Thursday.

The Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

Thursday’s attack was one of a series since January on Turkish troops, with Turkish officials keeping their pledge that such assaults would not go unanswered.