In the wake of the death of dozens of Turkish soldiers in Syria since the start of an operation called Euphrates Shield, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said the Turkish nation needs to bear the loss of its sons in Syria.
Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency on Friday, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “If only none of our soldiers had been killed… But if Turkey is going to secure its future and if it has launched such an operation, there is a need to bear a certain pain.”
As part of Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels drive Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists from the border city of Jarabulus on Aug. 24, in a dramatic escalation of its involvement in the Syrian civil war.
A total of 16 soldiers were killed while dozens of others were injured in an ISIL attack in Syria this week. With the latest casualties, the total number of Turkish soldiers killed since August in Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield has reached 37.