Turkey vows to widen offensive

Turkey’s president BEIRUT — on Monday vowed to expand military operations across northern Syria and even into neighboring Iraq after his forces drove Syrian Kurdish fighters from the northern Syrian town of Afrin.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the two-monthlong Afrin campaign was the “most important phase” of the military operation launched on Jan. 20, which is aimed at driving Syrian Kurdish forces out of areas along the border. Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish militiamen as terrorists because of their links to Kurdish insurgents fighting inside Turkey.

Erdogan said Turkish troops and allied Syrian forces would now press eastward, toward the town of Manbij and areas east of the Euphrates River, including Ras al-Ayn and Ayn al-Arab, the Arabic name for the Kurdish town of Kobani. Those areas are controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, and U.S. troops are stationed there.

“We’ll continue this process until we completely abolish this corridor,” Erdogan said. Turkey first launched military operations in Syria in 2016, and Erdogan has repeatedly said it will not allow a “terror corridor” along its border.

Erdogan said Turkish troops could also cross into Iraq to drive out Kurdish militants from the region of Sinjar, if the Iraqi government does not act against militants in the area. Turkey says the region is becoming a headquarters for outlawed Kurdish rebels who have been fighting an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast since 1984.