ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Friday to protect Turkiye`s southern border with a `safe zone` in Syria after Ankara launched a barrage of air strikes against Kurdish fighters.

Erdogan has long sought to build a `safe zone` with a depth of 30 kilometres inside Syria and repeatedly threatened this year to start a new military operation to achieve this goal. Turkiye`s military has conducted three offensives against Kurdish fighters and militants since 2016 and already captured territory in northern Syria, held by Ankara-backed Syrian proxies.

`With the security (zone) we are establishing on the other side of our border, we are also protecting the rights of millions of women and children,` Erdogan said during a televised speech to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.-AFP