President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that nearly 4,000 terrorists have been neutralized during Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria's Afrin region.
Speaking to a crowd ahead of the sixth ordinary district congress of Justice and Development (AK) Party in İstanbul's Fatih, Erdoğan said: "Do you know the number of neutralized [terrorists] in Afrin? Nearly 4,200."
Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.
Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorist groups from Afrin in northwestern Syria amid growing threats from the region.
On March 18, Turkish-backed troops liberated Afrin town center, which had been a major hideout for the YPG/PKK since 2012.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.
