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Erdogan: Army began operations against ISIL and PYD in Syria

24 August 2016 11:33 (UTC +04:00)

Turkish special forces units and jets supported by warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition launched an operation in northern Syria on Wednesday to wipe out Islamic State militants along the border, Turkish officials said.

"At 4:00 this morning, operations started in the north of Syria against terror groups which constantly threaten our country, like Daesh and the PYD," he said in a speech in Ankara.

Daesh is an Arabic name for Islamic state, while PYD refers to the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Erdogan added that US Vice President Joe Biden is now in Turkey and that he will meet with him.

“We'll tell Biden that the leader of the [FETO] terrorist organization has been in your country since 1998 and that the US has to extradite Gulen on the basis of provision 9 of the agreement we signed between the US and Turkey on extradition of criminals. We have sent the US necessary documents. We have handed over criminals to the US, without objection, because we’re strategic partners. Sheltering such a person promises nothing to the US,” he said.