Erdogan threatens to resume offensive

ISTANBUL >> Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned an offensive in northeast Syria will resume if Kurdish militias don’t clear out from the border as part of an extended ceasefire brokered by Russia.

Turkey and Russia agreed on Tuesday on a 150-hour ceasefire in Syria, hours before a U.s.-brokered five-day halt to its incursion against Syrian Kurdish militias expired.

“We will take matters into our own hands and do the cleaning ourselves if this area is not cleansed of terrorists at the end of 150 hours,” Erdogan said in Istanbul.

Turkey launched its offensive on Oct. 9, saying it was targeting the Syrian Kurdish militia, which it considers to be terrorists linked to insurgents at home. The deal with Russia dictates the Kurdish militias vacate the border area 18 miles into Syrian territory. Ankara and Moscow agreed to jointly control parts of this area.

“We will chase them wherever they flee. … if the terrorist organization continues attacks from inside or outside the 30-kilometer line,” Erdogan added.

The 150-hour ceasefire is to end Tuesday evening.

Turkey will relocate some of the 3.6 million Syrians it hosts to the border towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-ain it seized during the offensive, Erdogan said. That territory is 62 miles long.

Erdogan’s long-stated aim has been to relocate as many as 2 million Syrians in 275 miles of Turkey’s frontier with Syria, with the help of Western allies.

He reiterated on Saturday his threat to “open border gates” to Europe for Syrian refugees unless Ankara gets enough financial support to handle the refugee burden.