Ankara ready for military operation in Syria's Afrin - Presidential aide

"We might intervene [in Afrin] if necessary, all the arrangements for a trans-boundary operation have been completed," İbrahim Kalın said
Thursday, 05 October 2017 20:41

Ankara is ready to engage in a military operation against People's Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militant group, Turkish presidential aide İbrahim Kalın said Thursday.

"We might intervene [in Afrin] if necessary, all the arrangements for a trans-boundary operation have been completed," Kalın said.

Turkey views the YPG and the PYD as "terror groups" linked to the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a separatist insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

In recent weeks, media reports emerged about the deployment of Turkish military equipment and troops in provinces bordering Syrian Afrin. In July, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık stated that Ankara might launch a military operation in the Syrian province in case the YPG poses a threat to Turkey's security.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are discussing the implementation of the agreement on de-escalation zone in the Syrian Idlib province and will start to implement it soon, Turkish Kalın also said.

"In recent weeks, especially over the last few days, active discussions on Idlib have been taking place with the Russian and Iranian sides … The general framework of the [Idlib] issue has already been worked through. In the coming days, concrete steps will be taken in this direction," he said.