Turkey will destroy militants east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Istanbul on Tuesday. He also said that intervention in the area had begun and more extensive operations will be launched soon. The Turkish leader made the comments in a speech to members of his AK Party. The statement came two days after state-owned Anadolu news agency said that Turkish forces had bombarded Syrian Kurdish YPG militia positions on the eastern banks of the Euphrates.