Turkey's leader says its troops and allied Syrian opposition forces now hold some 1,000 sq. kilometers of territory in northeast Syria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the comments Tuesday, during a Turkic-speaking nations' meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he also called for "strong solidarity'' from those nations to Turkey's incursion into Syria, which is now in its seventh day.

The Turkish push has triggered widespread condemnation. The United States called on Turkey to stop the offensive and declare a cease-fire, while European Union countries moved to broaden an arms sale embargo.

Erdogan said that as of Tuesday morning, Turkey had "liberated approximately a 1,000 sq. kilometer area'' from Kurdish groups it considers "terrorists'' for links to an insurgency within its own borders.

He said the Turkish-led forces aimed to capture a border area in Syria spanning from the city of Manbij to the Iraqi border.