ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish prime minister vows to continue military operations in Syria until there's no "terror" threat to Turkey from the war-torn neighbor.

Friday's remarks by Binali Yildirim follow Turkey's incursion into Syria. Ankara this week sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels retake the Islamic State-held town of Jarablus and contain the expansion of Syria's Kurds in an area bordering Turkey.

Yildirim says the Syrian Kurdish militia's goal is to carve out a separate state — a "dream" he insists "they will never achieve."

He says the Turkish cross-border operation would continue until "we ensure 100 percent our border security and the life and property of our people."

Yildirim says Turkish operations in Syria will continue until IS militants "and other terror entities are cleared from the region."