Turkish forces will enter the Syrian town of Manbij if the United States does not remove YPG Kurdish fighters, and it will also target Kurdish-controlled areas further east, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.
"Manbij is a place where Arabs live, but they have surrendered the area to the terror organization," Erdogan told members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in a speech in Istanbul. "Now we are saying that you should cleanse, remove them, or else we will enter Manbij. I am speaking very clearly."
Erdogan said Turkey was also determined to bring "peace and security" to areas east of the Euphrates, where the YPG controls an area stretching more than 400 km along the border towards Iraq.
He compared the promised military campaign to an incursion into northern Syria in 2016 and one earlier this year by Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies, who still hold territory there seized from YPG and Daesh (ISIS) fighters.
The United States, which has set up observation posts on the Syrian side of the border, has warned Turkey against a new incursion and said the newly constructed positions would help deter any security threat against Turkey coming from Syria.
Erdogan, however, said Turkey had waited long enough to act against the YPG militia, which it says is indistinguishable from PKK militants who have waged an insurgency against the state in southeastern Turkey for 34 years.
"We are not only providing security for our country when taking steps in Syria but we are also protecting the honor of people," he said.
Erdogan said this week that Turkey would launch a new operation within days against the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which controls swathes of Syria's northern border region, in what will be Turkey's third military campaign in Syria in two years.
A spokesman for the Syrian rebels said Thursday that up to 15,000 fighters are prepared to support Turkey's latest operation.
Kurdish commander Mazloum Kobanin said also Thursday the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are spearheaded by the YPG, will respond strongly to any attack.
Reuters
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.