Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that Turkey will start an operation against the PYD militia east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria in a “few days.” He noted that the operation would not target US forces in the region.
“We have completed the necessary preparations while we were issuing warnings with regards to the areas east of the Euphrates,” President Erdogan said in a speech at the Turkish Defense Industry Summit held in Ankara. He stressed that in a few days, Turkey will launch a campaign to clear the area east of the Euphrates from what he called “terrorist organizations.”
With regards to the town of Manbij east of Aleppo, President Erdogan said that the United States is using “delaying tactics” regarding its promise to clear the town from YPG members.
“Although 80-85 percent of the population of Manbij are Arabs, the town now is under the control of the terrorist organizations that are behaving arrogantly there. The United States is apparently unable to get the terrorists out of there, so we are going to do it.”
“There is talk about a continued activity by ISIS in an area of 150 square kilometers. If that’s all, we are ready to neutralize the ISIS elements immediately,” President Erdogan said. (Source Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)