In the name of God! The siege east of the Euphrates will be destroyed... There will be no more ‘terror zone’ but a Turkey zone. Where are those trying to interfere in our affairs on behalf of the US and Israel? President Erdoğan is a blessing. Victory is our nation’s

In the name of God. We have launched our operation. As of yesterday, all plans east of the Euphrates River in Syria have been reset.

The tables have been upturned. All map projects have gone down the drain.

That deep foresight, that mentality, the geopolitical awareness, civilization and identity has taken action once more. It is here again today. It intervened in world political history once again.

Where are those who have been trying to put this great nation in its place by waving U.S. and Israel flags, trying to interfere in our affairs?

Where are those who trying to take control over this nation that has been uniting the whole region for centuries, that has been acting in unity saying, “We are one great nation,” a nation that has been resisting all attacks targeting these ancient lands, that buried the Crusaders in Anatolia, that sacrificed their lives in every inch of the region’s territory in World War I, that never cried or complained about their problems, that only fought?

Where are those who attempted to beat us, this great nation that gave birth to the Seljuks, that spread the Ottomans throughout Europe and defended Islam in all climates, through the U.S., France and Israel?

Where are those who have been trying to corner us, forcing us to kneel, to surrender along with our allies with whom we have been fighting throughout history for Islam, for our nation, for our region?

Where are those that divided Iraq and Syria, that “think they are going to divide Turkey as well”? Where are those making that cheap plan, those wanting to “turn Turkey into Syria”?

Where are those who have forgotten that for a millennium all victories start from Anatolia, all plans are foiled on these lands, where are those who have not been able to comprehend Turkey’s new rise, who have misinterpreted this country’s patience?

The plans of those wanting to siege us from the Mediterranean, the Aegean and the north of Syria, the U.S.’s “terror corridor” project, the "second Israel plan, their attempts to "siege Turkey from the south" all collapsed. This collapse happened today east of the Euphrates River in Syria. Tomorrow, it is going to expand to the Mediterranean and the Aegean.

They were going to build a "Turkey front" from the Iranian border to the Mediterranean, then they were going to use Turkey and the whole region as headquarters to attack.

The step that turned the "terror zone" - from the Iranian border to the Mediterranean" into the safe zone, the "peace zone," the "Turkey zone" was taken yesterday.

Turkey did what was necessary for Syria's integrity, for the region's integrity, for Turkey's future. It openly challenged the greatest and most imminent threat. It declared once more to the world that the U.S. and its allies cannot corner Turkey with a terrorist organization.

This intervention totally eliminated the grounds of them starting the Syria war. Those occupying one-third of the country had broke out this war for Turkey. Because the Syria war was planned to open the Turkey front.

The U.S. and its allies did not care about the Syrian regime, opposition, the demands of the public. They had prepared a map for the country's north and had acted accordingly. Now we are setting off with a different map. Had the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 been successful, the map's Turkey phase would have been launched. The intervention that started yesterday is also the continuation of the July 15 resistance.

As they were plotting, as they were preparing in front of our eyes, they gravely misinterpreted Turkey's solemnity. They tried to turn the country into putty in the hands of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-People's Protection Units (YPG). They said, "Turkey is affiliated with the U.S. and NATO, it cannot act independently."

They mistook our reputability for weakness. We have been paying a price for a millennium. We are now going to remind them what they forgot.

This is where they made the gravest miscalculation. They mistook our reputable relations with the international system for weakness. They mistook our reputability for weakness.

They thought we were going to indefinitely believe the promises the U.S. never kept; they thought the play they staged was going to last.

They thought they paralyzed our country with the front they built within. They forgot that we made history in this region for a millennium; they forgot that we shaped the region, that both our rises and collapses shook the whole region.

They forgot that this nation took the toughest decisions without relying on anybody's support, that it never made history by begging, that it never remained standing with the mercy of others, that it paid a price on these lands every day for a millennium.

We are now reminding them of what they forgot. We are telling them once more that this country cannot be threatened. We are repeating once more that our political mind, which goes back centuries, cannot be taken lightly.

We are in the east of the Euphrates as we were in Yemen, the Canal, in Sarıkamış, in Kut al-Amara. We have the same forces, the same enemies against us in all of them.

And we are defending the same thing in all of them: the country, the region, history, a common identity, civilization, our cities, our sacred values.

We never and in no way accepted the occupation and plundering of forces that came from outside the region and their partners in our midst. We did not accept any of them and will not do so.

We declared this once more to the world today.

We were acting with the same mind when we said two years ago that "this intervention must go ahead even if it means suicide." We were saying that the matter is much greater than terrorism, that it is part of the grand invasions of entire regions, and that it is a stage of the "War against Islam, against Muslims."

One of the biggest global plans since the July 15 coup attempt was the plan to "stop Turkey." It was the plan to ostracize Turkey from history once more like a century ago. They failed to stop us from internally, they were going to stop us by sieging from abroad. Now that siege is being destroyed. This is not a terror issue alone, it is an issue that goes back centuries. So, of course we were going to act according to the issue of centuries - and that is what we are doing.

Turkey’s intervention east of the Euphrates River is legitimate. Turkey had no hesitations. This is a homeland defense, a defense of Anatolia, a national struggle. It is those planning to carry the war into Anatolia being hunted in their own positions.

No country would or could have been this patient against a rapidly growing threat at the zero point of its border. Turkey showed a patience that no other state ever would.

They invaded Afghanistan and carried out horrific massacres because al-Qaida and Taliban were there. They invaded Iraq based on the lie that the country possessed nuclear weapons and killed hundreds of thousands of people. Concocting false threats, they attacked countries thousands of kilometers away from home.

While doing all this, they bred terrorist organizations at the zero point of the border of their NATO-ally, Turkey. They brought organizations around the world here. They nurtured a group like the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and attempted to break out a civil war in Turkey. They carried out heavy terrorist attacks in Turkey with the PKK and Daesh. They brought all sorts of evil to our lands, to our border.

They couldn’t possibly have nothing to say against our efforts to protect our borders while they intervene in locations thousands of kilometers away from their own country. They have no right to say anything.

Every threat you exaggerate shrinks when you are determined. Turkey is going to completely purge these regions. We are in a time in which force spoils the game.

They may have come with their map projects, but we are also on the ground with our maps. They may have come with their colony plans, but we are on the ground with the claims of centuries.

No country, including the U.S., will or can openly stand against Turkey's intervention targeting the terror zone. The present commotion, angry statements, threats, blackmails should not concern anybody. These will all calm down, fade and pass. But the impact of this step taken by Turkey is permanent. It will continue throughout the 21st century.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a history-making leader. He is the voice of our political history, our identity, our civilization, our legacy,our regional awareness. This decision could not have been easy to make. He is a blessing for this country, for our nation, for our region!

Following those words that came after being filtered through the centuries, he took that great step with the discernment of centuries.

He took action with a political gene from Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, to Sultan Selim the Grim, to Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This is not valor, it is a historical fact. This is how history was made, and this is how the future will be made.

May victory be our nation's.

Everybody contributing to this operation is praiseworthy. Because they will all be a part of a great history being written.