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ANKARA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Tuesday denied claims that the northern Syrian city of al-Bab will be handed over to the Assad regime forces, the Anadolu news agency reported.
"We've said it from the beginning that Operation Euphrates Shield is an operation regarding Turkey's own national security," Kurtulmus said, adding that the operation focuses on clearing terror threat on the country's southern border with Syria.
Kurtulmus criticized the U.S.-backed coalition for failing to give sufficient support to liberate the area from the Islamic State (IS) terrorists.
He said Turkey hopes the U.S. under the Trump administration can change its stance and provide support for policies which will work in favor of the people in Iraq and Syria.
The Turkish army is supporting Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters in liberating al-Bab, a town of strategic importance for gaining control in northern Syria and the Aleppo countryside currently occupied by IS.
In the last 24 hours, the Turkish army in al-Bab hit the IS targets, killing 13 terrorists, Turkish General Staff said on Tuesday.
The Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation last August against both IS and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Turkey regards the YPG and the PYD as terrorist organizations due to their links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
