ANKARA (Xinhua) – Turkey is preparing for a new military incursion into northern Syria “to establish a 30-km deep safe zone” along its southern border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.
“As soon as the Turkish armed forces complete its intelligence and security preparations, these operations will begin,” Erdogan said at a press conference after the cabinet meeting.
The operation will target the regions in northern Syria where the Turkish military does not have control and are “centers of attacks to our country and our safe zones,” he said.
Turkey’s forces and Syria’s so-called Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) members often exchange fire in the region and the clashes have accelerated since early this year.
The Turkish National Security Council will discuss the issue on Thursday, he said.
Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019 after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.
Ankara views the U.S.-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.
The Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria says the Turkish offensive has killed hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children since it started.
Syria has strongly condemned the Turkish military’s ongoing operations in the northern part of the country, stressing that the offensives are in blatant violation of the Arab nation’s sovereignty and independence.
Syria says the operations are in line with the hostile policies that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been practicing against Syria ever since the latter was embroiled in foreign-sponsored militancy more than a decade ago, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.
Syria has called on the UN Secretary General and the Security Council to adopt a clear stance vis-à-vis the Ankara government’s aggressive policies, as Security Council’s resolutions reiterate respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.
Damascus says it reserves the right, in accordance with its constitution, principles of the international law and the UN Charter provisions, to respond to Turkey’s aggression, put an end to the practice, and hold Ankara legally, politically and financially accountable to pay reparations for the damage it has incurred.