Turkey Threatens with Military Operation If Safe Zone Not Established in Syria
Turkey will launch a military operation in northern Syria if a planned safe zone is not established with threats continuing against Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.
The top Turkish diplomat said he hopes an agreement will be reached after talks on Monday with US special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey, who is visiting Turkey.
Turkey sees the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria as a threat to its national security. It has been in talks with Washington to agree on the establishment of a safe zone along its southern border in Syria.
The US, however, has already warned Turkey against any military actions to target its Kurdish allies, who have warned that they will abandon the operations to uproot the Islamic State (IS) if they are attacked.
“If the safe zone is not established and threats towards our country continue, we will launch the operation in the east of the Euphrates,” he said.
“The Americans sent Jeffrey and said there were new proposals in the talks that will start today. We hope an agreement can be reached on this. Concrete steps are needed on this now.” Source