Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets people during the official inauguration of the Cologne Central Mosque in Cologne, Germany, September 29, 2018. Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey aims to secure control of the region of northern Syria east of the Euphrates river, removing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from the area, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Speaking at the opening of parliament, Erdogan said Turkey also aimed to clear Iraq’s Sinjar and Qandil regions of Kurdish militants. Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist organization, closely tied to the militant PKK which has fought a decades-old insurgency in southeast Turkey.