Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu commented on the current Euphrates Shield military operation and said Turkey may move a further 45 kilometers in northern Syria amid efforts to establish a de facto safe zone, during an interview given to France 24 television channel on Saturday. "Initially, we [Turkey] may move at least 45 kilometers down and we must move further down in order to seal off the Manbij region. Then, a 5,000 kilometer de facto safe zone can be established," Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said.

Continuing on to reaffirm that the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria is a terrorist group affiliated with the PKK, Çavuşoğlu said U.S. cooperation with the PYD is unacceptable for Turkey. While Turkish officials met with U.S. officials in New York during the U.N. Summit, Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that all evidence on U.S.-based Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) leader Fethullah Gülen has been submitted to American officials as the Turkish minister stated that "Turkey now awaits the extradition of Gülen."

As the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) joint operation with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in northern Syria enters its 32nd day, the forces have hit 51 Daesh targets as one bombed vehicle was annihilated. With debates as to whether Turkey would be willing to take part in a possible cross-border operation to liberate Raqqa under Operation Euphrates Shield, Minister Çavuşoğlu said military officials are discussing the matter while he noted that the date of the operation is yet to be decided. Reiterating that Turkey fights against Daesh in Syria, the foreign minister underlined that once local forces completely recapture Jarablus, the proposed safe zone could be protected by those same forces. He also added that a no-fly zone for the same region [of Jarablus] would be significantly beneficial for the region to remain as a safe zone.

'US cooperates with PYD terrorists that attack Turkey'

Commenting on the U.S.'s direct weaponry support to the PKK-affiliate PYD, Minister Çavuşoğlu once more reaffirmed that the PYD does not represent the Kurds as it is a terrorist group. Ankara has long criticized the U.S. for providing arms to the PYD and Turkish authorities called on Washington to stop supporting terrorism as it joins forces with "terrorists." In this respect, Çavuşoğlu said, "the U.S. always fights terrorism; however, with this incident [the U.S. arming the PYD] the U.S. is, unfortunately, cooperating with a terrorist group that attacks Turkey. The weapons of the two suicide bombers in Ankara had obtained them from the camps that the U.S. supports and that is unacceptable." As Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu further noted that Turkey's aim is to defeat DAESH, he stressed that if Turkey wanted to directly combat against the PYD then it would've entered Syria from Kobani or elsewhere. Çavuşoğlu added that the PYD must withdraw to West of the Euphrates River as promised by the U.S., stressing that the terrorist group remains in the area. In regards to the recent airstrike against the U.N. aid convoy delivering food to the pounded opposition-held parts of Syria around Aleppo, Çavuşoğlu urged for a transparent investigation on the attack as he noted that "it is clear that the [Assad] regime and his supporters have attacked the U.N. convoy."

'New evidence submitted to US for Gülen's extradition'

During the U.N. Summit in New York, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from various states as he gave information regarding the structuring of the Gülenist Terrorist Group and how it operates around the world. With this perspective, Çavuşoğlu in the interview underlined that all of the evidences along with the new documents on U.S.-based FETÖ leader Gülen have been submitted to U.S. officials. As the process of extradition for Gülen has begun with the submission of evidence, Çavuşoğlu said, "We expect our ally the U.S. to complete this process and extradite him [Gülen] to Turkey as soon as possible." In response to a question regarding when the extradition would happen, Çavuşoğlu stated that the relevant courts would decide, underlining that such terrorists do not belong in democratic societies.