The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have eliminated a total of 16,913 terrorists over the course of six years under Operations Euphrates-Shield, Olive-Branch and Peace-Spring.
In line with the right of self-defense arising from Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, Türkiye launched its first cross-border operation into northern Syria on Aug. 24, 2016, in order to eliminate terrorist organizations threatening its safety, starting with Daesh. The operation also ensures Türkiye's border security, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA).
On the first day of Operation Euphrates-Shield, the TSK's tank units entered northern Syria and liberated Jarablus, a district sitting opposite Türkiye’s Karkamış town, from Daesh. On Feb. 23, 2017, Turkish forces freed the town of al-Bab.
In just 217 days, settlements scattered across a 2,055-square-kilometer (793.44-mile-square) region were freed of terrorism. Türkiye announced on March 29, 2017, that the operation was successfully concluded.
Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) eliminated 3,936 members of Daesh, and 1,976 from the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, as part of Operation Euphrates-Shield.
The operation also saw the destruction of 18,796 handmade explosives planted by terrorists across the region. Countless civilians displaced by terrorism returned to their homes after the region was secured.
Operation Olive Branch
The next target for the TSK when Jan. 20, 2018, rolled around was Afrin, the northern Syrian town across from the Turkish province of Hatay that had been under the occupation of the PKK/YPG.
The same day, 72 fighter jets that took off in memory of the 72 Turkish soldiers that were martyred during Operation Euphrates Shield dropped bombs on terrorist targets starting at 5 p.m.
While Turkish forces were careful to avoid endangering civilians during Operation Olive Branch, the terrorists tried to block the offensive by using the civilians of the towns they occupied as human shields.
One of the key breakthroughs in Operation Olive Branch was the capture of Mount Barsa in the Sharran village on Jan. 28.
As part of the operation, the Bulbul village was rid of PKK/YPG terrorists by the TSK and Syrian opposition forces on Feb. 1, 2018, followed by Rajo on March 3, Shaykh al-Hadid on March 4, Sharran on March 6 and Jindires on March 8.
7,171 terrorists eliminated
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at a ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the March 18 Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs’ Day, announced that the Afrin district center was wholly cleared of terrorists and brought under the control of the SNA.
Some 7,171 terrorists were eliminated and 2,289 mines and handmade explosives were destroyed during the Olive Branch operation.
As the operation ended, six town centers, 282 villages, six settlements, 23 strategic mountains and hills, one dam, and 50 strategic locations came under the control of the TSK and the SNA.
Many civilians driven out of the region because of the terrorist threat returned to their homes.
Operation Peace Spring
On Oct. 9, 2019, Türkiye kicked off Operation Peace Spring against the PKK/YPG and Daesh in northern Syria in an effort to quash the terror corridor the groups were trying to establish along its southern border and bring peace to the region.
Turkish troops moved into the eastern bank of the Euphrates from Tell Abyad at 10:30 p.m. on the first day of the operation. They liberated Ras al-Ain on the fourth day and Tell Abyad on the fifth day from PKK/YPG terrorists.
Nearly 600 residential areas spreading over a 4,000-kilometer-square region were cleared of terrorism as a result.
Erdoğan and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during a meeting on Oct. 17, 2019, in Ankara agreed to put Operation Spring Peace on hold for 120 hours until the PKK/YPG pulled forces back from the safe zone. Many PKK/YPG terrorists were evacuated from Ras al-Ain to al-Hasakah in this period.
Some 3,829 terrorists were eliminated during the operation. After the TSK enabled peace in the region and destroyed 1,185 mines and handmade explosives, civilians displaced during the occupation returned to their lands.
Additionally, when the terrorist group conducted an airstrike against Turkish troops who were stationed in Idlib for a cease-fire observation mission per the Astana peace agreements, Türkiye launched a counter-operation on Feb. 27, 2020.
Speaking from a tactical command station on point zero to the Syrian border, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar revealed Operation Spring-Shield was "a go."
Having effectively utilized drones and armed aerial vehicles during the operation, the TSK made the Syrian regime and PKK/YPG elements suffer heavy losses in a short while.
Following talks between Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on March 5, a cease-fire was implemented in Idlib.
Türkiye was one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group in 2013.
The country has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.
The PKK – designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and the EU along with Türkiye – has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign against the country for four decades, attacking both security personnel and civilians. It has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984, with its massacres peaking especially in the 1990s.