Ankara vows to clear key regions of YPG militants
ISTANBUL: Turkey’s president slammed a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militant group Sunday and said he will clear his country’s border with Syria of “terrorists.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a rally in the central province of Karaman his country would not allow “terror nests” near its border, referring to areas held by the People’s Protection Units or YPG in northern Syria.
Turkey considers the YPG an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within its own borders, and launched an operation in August 2016 to clear part of its border of their and Daesh’s presence.
Erdogan announced an expanded list of areas to be cleared. “We will clean Afrin of terrorists, we will clean Manbij of terrorists. We will clean Tel Abyad, Ras Al-Ayn and Qamishli of terrorists,” he said.
Turkey has a military presence in the western Syrian province of Idlib as part of a de-escalation agreement struck with Russia and Iran. The province borders YPG-controlled Afrin and Turkey has threatened to attack the group there.
Erdogan has frequently expressed frustration with the Syrian Kurdish militant group’s presence at Turkey’s border. But it is rare that he mentions Qamishli, a town further east controlled by both the Syrian Kurds and Assad regime.
Turkish officials regularly criticize the US for backing and arming Syrian Kurds in combatting Daesh, a sticky issue in already tense bilateral relations.
Last month, Turkey’s foreign minister said President Donald Trump promised to stop arming the militant group but the Pentagon said it was reviewing the process, stopping short of announcing a halt to weapons transfers.