Afrin operation stands for liberation: Turkish PM 

TEKİRDAĞ – Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s ongoing military operation in Syria's Afrin serves to liberate the oppressed people in the region, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Feb. 3.

Addressing the ordinary congress of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ, Yıldırım said that the operation means liberation for Turkey’s neighbors. 

"It is an operation aimed at liberating Arabs, and our Kurdish and Turkmen brothers who have been moaning under oppression," he said. 

Binali Yıldırım went on to say that the operation also served to eradicate "a terror belt, a terror state which imperialists have been trying to establish" along Turkey's borders. 

He added that Turkey would not tolerate anyone "trying to cast a shadow over the operation by getting carried away with the propaganda perpetuated by terror groups".