Erdoğan: No one has profited from Russia-Ukraine war except Western barons

Speaking at an event in the northeastern province of Rize, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday said: "The Western war barons are the only ones benefiting from the Russia-Ukraine war. They continue to add fuel to the fire, constantly pouring gasoline on it."

Regarding Russa-Ukraine war, Erdoğan noted: "No one has profited from this bloodbath except the Western war barons. They are still pouring gasoline on the fire and doing their best to fuel the fire. We are working for the establishment of peace and stability."

"We have always done this from the first day, we have fought for this. We have prevented this fire from spreading to the Black Sea by following a balanced policy, and by acting fairly between our two neighbors," added the Turkish president.

- 'We are determined to deliver to our children country free from threat of terrorism'

Highlighting Türkiye's good position in the fight against terrorism, President Erdoğan underscored: "We have significantly ended the presence of terrorist organizations within our borders, and we do not let terrorists breathe outside our borders. We have pushed the separatist organization far away from our borders with the ongoing Operation Claw Lock in northern Iraq.

"We have already achieved the same in our operations in Syria. We will hopefully complete the missing parts of our security belt in Syria when the time comes. We are determined to hand over to our children a country free from the threat of terrorism."

Türkiye in 2022 launched Operation Claw-Lock to target the terror group PKK's hideouts in northern Iraq's Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions.

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, just across the Turkish border, to plot terror attacks in Türkiye.

Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations since 2016 across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).