Minister: Over 318,000 Syrians have returned home since Turkish ops
More than 318,000 Syrians have returned home since Turkey completed counter-terror operations in northern Syria, Anadolu Agency reports, citing Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
Some “318,500 Syrians have returned home, as there is peace in Syria now,” said Soylu, addressing a crowd in Istanbul.
Soylu said Turkey sent doctors, nurses, engineers, security officers and soldiers to Syria and built schools there.
He added that Turkey neutralized 3,333 terrorists in two years of cross-border and nationwide counter-terrorism operations.
Turkey has carried out two operations, dubbed “Euphrates Shield” and “Olive Branch”, against Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State in northern Syria since 2016. Ankara regards the U.S.-backed YPG as a terrorist organization.