Turkey's Erdogan vows to impose secure zones east of Euphrates in Syria: media

Thomson Reuters

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will take action east of the Euphrates river in Syria and impose secure zones as it has done in northwest Syria, the Hurriyet daily and other media said on Monday.

Turkey previously carried out a military operation to seize control of Syria's Afrin region from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. The YPG also controls the region east of the Euphrates.

"God willing, in the period ahead we will increase the number of secure zones in Syria, encompassing the east of the Euphrates," the Hurriyet website quoted Erdogan as saying in a speech during a visit to New York.

Erdogan has in the past warned of new military operations along its borders after its previous offensives in Syria.

(Reporting by Can Sezer; Editing by Daren Butler)

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