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Refugee camps in the Turkish-controlled area of Syria near the border
Photo: Zakariya Yahya / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu has defended his country's planned operation in neighboring Syria.
There are still terrorists in northern Syria who have to be fought, said Çavuşoğlu.
However, the US tried to dissuade Turkey from the potentially imminent deployment.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened a new military operation in the neighboring country, which would involve penetrating up to 30 kilometers into Syrian territory.
Turkey already controls a 30-kilometer-deep "protection zone"
In north-eastern Syria, YPG fighters expelled Bashar al-Assad's regime troops in 2012.
Four years later, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party proclaimed the autonomous self-government of North and East Syria.
Both the Syrian regime and Turkey saw this as a provocation.
The government in Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist organization, a Syrian offshoot of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK, which has been waging war against the Turkish state for decades.
The USA sees the YPG in the Syrian civil war as a partner in the fight against the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS).
In 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin bombed, and in 2019 the cities of Ras al-Ain and Tall Abjad.
Since then, Turkey has occupied a 30-kilometer-deep "protection zone" along the border.
Analyst Salim Cevik from the Center for Turkey Studies (Cats) in Berlin said Turkish operations in western northern Syria are taking place with Russian approval.
East of the Euphrates, Turkey needs US and Russian approval.
“Erdoğan sees his chance now that Russia is busy with the war in Ukraine.
He uses his veto card in NATO to urge the United States to make concessions on Syrian soil.”
Turkey is currently the only NATO member to publicly block the start of Sweden's and Finland's admission process to the defense alliance.
muk/dpa
