"From 4:00 am (0100 GMT) our forces began an operation against the Daesh (IS) and PYD (Kurdish Democratic Union Party) terror groups," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, adding the move was aimed at "putting an end" to problems on the border.

As he spoke, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported that pro-Ankara Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels had already penetrated three kilometres (two miles) inside Syria towards the IS-held town of Jarabulus.