Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has given up trying to convince the international community that he supports the "territorial integrity" of Syria and Iraq in an admission made yesterday.
The Turkish military and their jihadist allies occupy Idlib and Afrin in northern Syria and refuse to return the sovereignty of these areas to the Syrian government.
In 2018 and 2019, the Turkish military launched Operation Olive Branch in Syria and Operation Claw in Iraq respectively under the guise of fighting and expelling the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), that Ankara deems a terrorist organization, and ISIS.
However, since these operations, Erdoğan has maintained that he supports the "territorial integrity" of these countries, yet refuses to withdraw his troops from occupying these areas of Syria and Iraq where the operations were concentrated against.
In an admission made yesterday, Erdoğan said:
"We had martyrs in Idlib, Afrin, Operation Olive Branch and Operation Claw. But do not forget that each martyr means these lands are our own country."