The Turkish Defense Ministry released a video Tuesday showing reopening of mosques and churches in Syria's northern towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn.
After repairing damage done by the Kurdish YPG militia, Turkey has returned mosques and churches in northern Syria to the service of worshipers, Anadolu Agency reported.
"Our heroic soldiers show respect for all beliefs and values, and are the guarantee of freedom," the ministry said on Twitter.
"Turks, Kurds, Arabs, we are all Muslims. We want our people to come back," a worshipper said in the video after weekly Friday prayers in Tal Abyad's Iman Mosque.
The footage showed that the Assyrian Orthodox Church and Siral Catholic Church in Ras al-Ayn as well as the Armenian Orthodox Church in Tal Abyad were currently open to worship after being liberated from YPG by Turkey's recent anti-terror operation in the region.
Turkey aims to settle one million Syrian war refugees in the area of northern Syria where it carried out a military incursion in October, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
He told state broadcaster TRT that Ankara would finance the resettlement on its own if allies did not provide support.
Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies launched the offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara views as a terrorist group. After seizing a strip of land inside Syria 120 km (75 miles) long and around 30 km (18 miles) wide running from the town of Ras al Ain to Tel Abyad, Turkey signed separate deals with the United States and Russia to halt its assault.
Turkey had previously said it could settle up to 2 million Syrian refugees in a 444-km (275-mile)-long "safe zone" it aimed to form in northeastern Syria, and repeatedly urged NATO allies to provide financial aid for the plans.
Turkey currently hosts more than 3.5 million refugees from neighboring Syria's 8-1/2-year-old war. Turkish officials have not indicated when any resettlement of refugees would begin.
"The Turkish nation can carry out an exemplary step between Ras al Ain and Tel Abyad," Erdogan said in his TRT interview, holding up a map of the region with markings on it. "Settling one million people between Tel Abyad and Ras al Ain, that is our aim in the safe zone, that is our plan."
Last week, Erdogan met his German, French and British counterparts on the sidelines of a NATO summit in London to hold talks on developments in Syria and his "safe zone" plan.
After the summit, Erdogan said one country, which he did not name, had pledged support for the plan but that Germany, France and Britain had not done so. He had previously said that Qatar could back it.
The European Union and Turkey's allies in NATO have rejected its calls for financial assistance and condemned the Turkish offensive, which they said might hinder the fight against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey has dismissed the concerns.
Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies
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