MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish Parliament voted for the military operation in northern Syria not to start a war but to protect Turkey's security, Mevlut Karakaya, the deputy president of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party told Sputnik on Friday.
"By voting in the parliament in favor of the mandate for the operation in Syria, we only had one goal in mind, countering the terrorist threat and ensuring national security on the border, not waging war in a neighboring country," Karakaya said.
On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed the Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarablus and the surrounding area of the Daesh terrorist organization. As Jarablus was recaptured, the joint forces of Ankara, the coalition and Syrian opposition groups continued the offensive southwest. Syrian authorities have denounced Turkey's involvement as an invasion.
