BREAKING NEWS

Turkey's Erdogan vows to impose secure zones east of Euphrates in Syria

ISTANBUL - Turkey will take action east of the Euphrates river in Syria and impose secure zones as it has done in the northwest of the country, President Tayyip Erdogan said in comments broadcast on Turkish media on Monday.
Earlier this year, Turkey carried out a military operation to seize control of Syria's Afrin region from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. The YPG also controls the Syrian region east of the Euphrates.
"God willing, in the period ahead we will increase the number of secure zones in Syria, encompassing the east of the Euphrates," Erdogan said in a speech during a visit to New York.
Erdogan's comments come a week after he and Russia's Vladimir Putin announced a deal under which Russian and Turkish troops will enforce a demilitarized zone in northwest Syria's Idlib region.