Turkish Minister of Defense: we are ready to support the Iraqi army

Shafaq News / Turkey is ready to help boost the Iraqi military's effectiveness through sharing its knowledge and experience as a member of NATO, Turkey’s defense minister said on Thursday.

Speaking in Kars, northeastern Turkey, amid joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises there, the Turkish Minister of Defense, Hulusi Akar, said that Turkish border operations since 2016 have destroyed "the terror corridor that terrorist groups were trying to form in northern Syria, and it cannot be re-formed there."

Had Turkey not taken action along its borders, the refugee influx to Europe that would have resulted must be considered, he stressed.

Since 2016, Turkey launched a trio of operations in northern Syria, across its border, to prevent the formation of a "terror corridor" and to enable the peaceful settlement of residents there: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).