Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey rejected the international criticisms of his country’s military operation in Syria and claimed that the goal of the operation is, in fact, to protect the sovereignty of the Arab country by fighting the Kurdish control over northeast Syria.

In a speech on Thursday, October 10, Erdogan responded to the criticisms by some countries and mentioned Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt: “They are not honest and make things up. But we act, and that is the difference between us.”

He also threatened that if the European countries refer to Turkey’s military operation in Syria as “occupation,” he will send 3.6 million Syrian refugees toward Europe.

Erdogan emphasized that the military operation aims to return Syrians to their homes, and he will not accept any harm to civilians during the operation.

The Turkish government says it is trying to create a safe zone for millions of Syrian refugees to return to Syria. But the international powers are concerned that Turkey’s attempt could escalate the situation and increase the possibility of ISIS prisoners escaping.

Erdogan continued also announced that “so far 109 terrorists have been killed.”

The Turkish president said he guarantees that after Turkey’s military operation, there will be no sign of ISIS militia in the northeast of Syria.

On Thursday, local Kurdish officials in northeast Syria announced that one of the prisons in the region that keeps ISIS prisoners has been bombarded.

They called it “a clear attempt” to release ISIS prisoners and warned that such attacks could “lead to a disastrous outcome that the world might not be able to face.”

President Trump has described Turkey’s military operation in Syria as a bad idea that he does not support. Since the attack, the value of Turkey’s national currency has dropped.

The UN Security Council will hold a meeting today regarding Turkey’s attack on Syria by the request of several European countries.