Erdogan: Turkey entered Syria to end Assad's rule

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday his country's military operations in Syria aim to end the rule of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, the local Hurriyet daily news reported.

"In my estimation, nearly one million people have died in Syria. These deaths are still continuing without exception for children, women and men. Where is the United Nations? What is it doing? Is it in Iraq? No. We preached patience but could not endure in the end and had to enter Syria together with the Free Syrian Army (FSA)," Erdogan said at the first Inter-Parliamentary Quds Platform Symposium in Istanbul.

"We do not have an eye on Syrian soil. The issue is to provide lands to their real owners. That is to say we are there for the establishment of justice. We entered there to end the rule of Assad who terrorizes with state terror. We didn't enter for any other reason," he added.

On August 24, the Turkish army launched an operation in Syria entitled "Euphrates Shield" operation, with FSA fighters to ostensibly clear the country's southern border of Daesh.

Source: MENA