ANKARA 

Operation Peace Spring is only targeting terrorists in northern Syria, as did previous Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Wednesday. 

The ministry said the military operation began at 4 p.m. local time (1300GMT) by Turkish Armed Forces with the instructions of the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It is carried out respectfully to the territorial integrity of Syria in line with the country’s right borne out of international law, UN Security Council resolutions on fighting against terrorism and under the right to "self-defense" of the UN Charter," it said.

"As in the Euphrates Shield Operation and the Olive Branch Operation, only terrorists, their shelters, positions, weapons, tools and equipment are targeted in the planning and implementation of the operation, while all kinds of attention and sensitivity are shown to prevent the damages of civil/innocent people and historical, cultural, religious structures, infrastructure facilities and elements of friendly and allied countries in the region," the ministry said.

Turkey on Wednesday announced the launch of Operation Peace Spring east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to secure its borders by eliminating terror elements to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria’s territorial integrity.

Turkey has said the terror group, PKK, and its extension the YPG/PYD, constitute the biggest threat to Syria’s future, jeopardizing the country’s territorial integrity and unitary structure.

Turkey has also stressed that supporting terrorists under the pretext of fighting Daesh is unacceptable.

Turkey has a 566-mile (911-kilometer) border with Syria and it has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates and the formation of a “terrorist corridor” there.

Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrians in a 19-mile (30-kilometer) wide safe zone to be set up in Syria, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, including Manbij. The presence of terror groups such as the PKK, PYD, and YPG, however, risk its formation.

Turkey has rid an area of 1,544 square miles (4,000 square kilometers) in Syria of terror groups in two separate cross-border operations. Since 2016, Turkey has conducted two major military operations in northwestern Syria -- Operation Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch -- to purge the region of the terror groups Daesh and the YPG, which is the Syrian branch of the terrorist group PKK.

The two operations were in line with the country’s right to self-defense borne out of international law, UN Security Council resolutions, especially no. 1624 (2005), 2170 (2014) and 2178 (2014), and under the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, while being respectful of Syria’s territorial integrity.

During Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkish forces neutralized 3,060 Daesh terrorists. Turkey has suffered greatly from Daesh attacks inside its borders. More than 300 people have been killed in attacks claimed by Daesh in Turkey, where the terror group has targeted civilians in suicide bombings and armed attacks in recent years.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.