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Turkey had informed three countries of military op in Syria

25 August 2016 11:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. Turkey had informed the US, Russia, and later Iran of the military operation launched to clear the Syrian city of Jarablus of Islamic State militants, the country’s defense minister Fikri Isik said in an interview to NTV channel on Thursday.

"Our main goal is to clear Jarablus of the IS terrorist group militants,” Isik said.

He pointed out that the second goal is to prevent Syrian Kurds from taking control of the area after IS clear-out.

According to him, Jarablus is an important point in both a short and long-term perspective.

“We have to defend our borders by ourselves as Syria does not have an effective government. And we are within our right to stay in the area until the Free Syrian Army regains control over the situation there," the Turkish defense minister added.

On Aug. 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force with the support of the coalition aircraft launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo city.

The operation was carried out under the name “Shield of the Euphrates.”