Operation Olive Branch was a must to stop PKK drug trafficking, Interior Minister says
Turkey's Operation Olive Branch launched back in 2018 against the PKK and its Syrian affiliates in northwestern Syria was a crucial step in preventing the terrorist group from turning the region into a hub for drug trafficking, the interior minister said Friday. Speaking about the government's fight against drugs at "The Fight Against Narcotic Crimes Evaluation Meeting" in south Turkey's Antalya province, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu expressed the importance of Olive Branch Operation's fight against the PKK's drug trafficking. "Instability, income equality and ever-lasting wars are triggering drug trafficking and migration. If we had not carried out the Olive Branch Operation in Afrin, the region would have become the center of drug trafficking for the PKK. This situation points to the difficulties that we are facing in the region," said Soylu. Turkey carried out Operation Olive Branch in January 2018 to drive terrorist groups, includ