Turkey to launch ‘anti-terrorist’ operation in Syria – Erdogan

Ankara plans to “clear” Syrian cities of Tal Rifat and Manbij of “terrorists,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said

Turkey will step up its efforts to create what it calls a 30-kilometer-wide “security zone” alongside its southern border with Syria, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday.

The Turkish Armed Forces are to launch an “anti-terrorist” operation, which will target the northern Syrian cities of Tal Rifat and Manbij in particular, he told a meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in Ankara.

The president did not specify the exact date when the operation is to start. Neither did he reveal the number of troops expected to take part in it.

Turkey considers Kurdish militias in northern Syria to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a militant organization engaged in a decades-long conflict with Turkey. Established as a separatist movement seeking independence for Kurds, it later shifted its focus towards broader autonomy for Kurds within Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist group, as does the US, the EU and some other nations, like Canada and Australia.

https://www.rt.com/news/556465-turkey-launch-operation-syria-terrorist/