Turkey Says Will Not Let U.S. Hold It Back in Syria
ISTANBUL (Dispatches) – Turkey pledged on Monday to press ahead with plans to target a Kurdish militants in northern Syria, brushing off what it said were American efforts to stymie Turkish military operations east of the Euphrates.
President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that Turkey would launch a new operation within days against the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militants in northern Syria. The Pentagon expressed grave concern and said unilateral military action there by any party would be "unacceptable”.
Relations between the two NATO allies have long been strained by Syria policy. The United States has backed the YPG. Ankara, however, sees the YPG as terrorists tied to PKK militants who have fought militancy in southeast Turkey for 34 years.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Washington had tried to hold Turkey back during two operations in Syria in the last two years against Daesh terrorists and the YPG, which controls swathes of Syria’s northern border region.
"The United States thought it could deter us with the men it has nurtured,” he said during a visit to Pakistan, state-owned news agency Anadolu reported. "Now, they will try to hold us back east of the Euphrates. Turkey did not, and will not, allow that.”
Turkey has not yet launched an operation east of the Euphrates but has kept up regular air strikes against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants based in Iraq’s mountains.
Baghdad summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq on Friday after Ankara said it killed eight PKK militants. But Turkish warplanes have since carried out further strikes.
On Monday, Turkey’s defense ministry said air strikes on Sunday targeted northern Iraq’s Gara and Hakurk areas and "neutralized” seven militants preparing to attack Turkish bases.
Erdogan has said Turkish forces will enter the Syrian town of Manbij, west of the Euphrates, if the United States does not remove YPG militants there and will also target the eastern side, where the YPG controls an area stretching more than 400 km (250 miles) along the border towards Iraq.
On Sunday he vowed again to maintain attacks on militants.
Syrian Kurdish members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) attend the funeral of a slain Kurdish commander in the northeastern city of Qamishli on December 6, 2018.
President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that Turkey would launch a new operation within days against the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militants in northern Syria. The Pentagon expressed grave concern and said unilateral military action there by any party would be "unacceptable”.
Relations between the two NATO allies have long been strained by Syria policy. The United States has backed the YPG. Ankara, however, sees the YPG as terrorists tied to PKK militants who have fought militancy in southeast Turkey for 34 years.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Washington had tried to hold Turkey back during two operations in Syria in the last two years against Daesh terrorists and the YPG, which controls swathes of Syria’s northern border region.
"The United States thought it could deter us with the men it has nurtured,” he said during a visit to Pakistan, state-owned news agency Anadolu reported. "Now, they will try to hold us back east of the Euphrates. Turkey did not, and will not, allow that.”
Turkey has not yet launched an operation east of the Euphrates but has kept up regular air strikes against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants based in Iraq’s mountains.
Baghdad summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq on Friday after Ankara said it killed eight PKK militants. But Turkish warplanes have since carried out further strikes.
On Monday, Turkey’s defense ministry said air strikes on Sunday targeted northern Iraq’s Gara and Hakurk areas and "neutralized” seven militants preparing to attack Turkish bases.
Erdogan has said Turkish forces will enter the Syrian town of Manbij, west of the Euphrates, if the United States does not remove YPG militants there and will also target the eastern side, where the YPG controls an area stretching more than 400 km (250 miles) along the border towards Iraq.
On Sunday he vowed again to maintain attacks on militants.
Syrian Kurdish members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) attend the funeral of a slain Kurdish commander in the northeastern city of Qamishli on December 6, 2018.