Erdogan to address int'l peace and security at UN

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will address international peace and security issues at the UN General Assembly on the first day of talks on Sept. 24.

The 74th session of the General Assembly will be held in U.S. on Sept. 21-25.

Erdogan also announced Ambassador Volkan Bozkir's nomination for the 75th UN General Assembly presidency till September 2021.

“All of our preparations have been completed along the border. We are together with the U.S. in NATO and we have continued our strategic partnership for many years,” Erdogan said about the establishment of a safe zone east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.

“But in a place where the United States is not invited, we cannot afford to ignore the support it has given to terrorist organizations. In other words, their support for terrorist organizations such as YPG / PKK is obvious,” he added.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey will clear off terrorist organizations with the establishment of a safe zone.

According to Turkey’s National Defense Ministry, the joint patrols are conducted as part of an agreement over the planned establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria.

On Aug. 7, Turkish and U.S. military officials agreed to set up a safe zone in northern Syria and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the movement of displaced Syrians who want to return home. They also agreed to establish a joint operations center.

The agreement also envisaged setting up necessary security measures to address Turkey's security concerns, including clearing the zone of the terrorist YPG/PKK, a group the U.S. has sometimes been allied with, over Turkey’s objections.

The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group, which for more than 30 years has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Turkey, including many children, women, and infants.