Turkey has "neutralized" more than 4,600 terrorists during Operation Olive Branch in Syria's Afrin region, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Monday.
Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.
Erdoğan made the remarks during a joint live broadcast by private TV channels TGRT Haber, TVNET, Beyaz TV and Akit TV in Istanbul on the upcoming June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections.
He vowed that Turkey would continue its counterterrorism efforts until every terrorist is killed.
Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear northwestern Syria’s Afrin region from the YPG/PKK and Daesh terror groups.
On March 18, Turkish-backed troops liberated the town center of Afrin, which had been a major hideout for the YPG/PKK terror group since 2012.
Earlier in the day, Erdoğan announced that Turkish forces had launched an operation in Mt. Qandil, an area in northern Iraq used by the PKK terror group as its main base.
The president said Turkey had inflicted the heaviest blow in history against the PKK terror group.
Speaking about the Canal Istanbul project, which is expected to be launched later this year, Erdoğan said: "Canal Istanbul is a strategic project because the Bosphorus Strait is under threat every moment".
The planned canal is meant to provide relief to shipping traffic between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, particularly oil tanker traffic passing through the Bosphorus. It will also remove the risk of ships crashing into historic sea-front mansions.
The 45-kilometer (nearly 28-mile) canal, to be built in Istanbul's Kucukcekmece-Sazlidere-Durusu corridor, is to boast a capacity of 160 vessels a day and is scheduled to be completed by 2023, Turkey’s centennial.
