Turkey plans Syria operation as long as threat remains: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his nation’s plan for a brand new army offensive in neighbouring Syria will stay on the agenda till its safety issues are addressed.

Erdogan, who introduced earlier this 12 months that Turkey would launch a brand new offensive in northeast Syria towards the Kurdish Folks’s Safety Models (YPG), held talks on Syria along with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Tehran on Tuesday.

Throughout the talks, he sought assist for a brand new Turkish operation towards the YPG.

Talking to reporters on his return flight late on Tuesday, Erdogan mentioned the three nations had been united in counterterrorism efforts regardless of having completely different views on some Syria-related points, including that he believes all three suppose alike concerning the YPG.

Turkish media retailers printed Erdogan’s remarks on Wednesday.

Ankara views the YPG as a “terrorist” organisation and as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Employees’ Celebration (PKK). It has lengthy made it clear it needs to clear the YPG from the border space.

The PKK has waged a decades-long armed marketing campaign for an impartial Kurdish state. Tens of 1000’s of individuals have died on account of the preventing.

Erdogan accused the YPG, a key US ally in preventing ISIL (ISIS) in Syria, of “draining” Syrian petrol to promote it to the federal government of President Bashar al-Assad. He additionally mentioned the USA should withdraw from the east of the Euphrates river and halt its assist for “terrorist” teams.

“America has to depart east of the Euphrates now. That is an final result that got here out of the Astana course of,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu Company, referring to the trilateral talks launched in 2017 by Turkey, Russia and Iran to pursue a political resolution to Syria’s battle.

“Turkey expects this as nicely as a result of it’s America that feeds the terrorist teams there,” Erdogan instructed reporters.

He added: “You see that the American [military] workers there practice members of the terrorist organisation [YPG/PKK]. Throughout this coaching, they’re waving the flag of the regime there. Why?”

“Their job is to commit a terrorist act towards the Turkish troopers there. Right here, too, they suppose they’re deceiving the Turkish military by waving the regime’s flag there. We received’t be fooled.”

Earlier offensives

In 2019, Turkey launched what it referred to as “Operation Peace Spring”, a cross-border army operation into northern Syria towards the YPG. It was the third army operation in three years concentrating on Syrian-Kurdish fighters.

Its goal was to additionally set up a “secure zone” stretching 32km (20 miles) into Syria’s northeast area to host Syrian refugees. Along with that, Turkey hoped to create a buffer to push Kurdish fighters past the world.

Following 10 days of preventing, a deal was reached the place it was agreed the YPG would pull its troops 30km again from the border. Turkey offered the operation as a diplomatic and army victory and agreed with Russia to run joint patrols within the space.

In Tuesday’s assembly, Erdogan mentioned Turkey needs extra assist from Iran and Russia. The 2 Syrian allies have beforehand warned towards such operations, and have referred to as as an alternative for a diplomatic resolution in Syria.

Iran and Russia additionally expressed on Tuesday their opposition to overseas intervention and the theft of Syria’s oil and assets, a critique directed on the US.

In a joint assertion, the three nations “expressed their willpower to proceed working collectively to fight terrorism in all varieties and manifestations”. In addition they introduced that the following spherical of Astana talks will happen in Russia earlier than the tip of the 12 months.

In the meantime, Syrian refugees in Turkey expressed fears over a Turkish plan introduced in Might to repatriate some a million Syrians to the areas below Turkish safety management in northern Syria.

They are saying the world continues to be a closely militarised conflict zone and they’re cautious of returning.

There are hundreds of thousands of individuals in Syria’s northeast area, together with tons of of 1000’s of internally displaced Syrians who fled government-led offensives in different components of the nation.

The war-torn nation is struggling not solely from the implications of the long-running battle but in addition from a extreme financial disaster. In response to the United Nations, greater than 90 % of the folks dwell under the poverty line.