Erdoğan attends funeral of soldier martyred in Operation Olive Branch

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the funeral ceremony of Infantry Lieutenant Muhammed Kır in Turkey’s Erzurum on Friday.

“I pray that we are close to victory in all our counterterrorism efforts, and especially in the Afrin operation. My deepest condolences to the family of our martyr,” Erdoğan said.

Kır (25) was martyred by an improvised explosive device (IED) during Operation Olive Branch. A total of 3,530 terrorists have been neutralized since the start of Operation Olive Branch in Syria's northwestern Afrin region, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Friday morning.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.