Turk ey begins incursion into Syria

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announced today that his country’s planned operation targeting Kurdish militants in northeastern Syria had begun.

Mr. Erdogan said the operation aimed to “prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border,” but provided no other information about where Turkish forces had entered Syria or how far they would go.

A Kurdish militia, long supported by the U.S. before President Trump ordered the withdrawal of American troops in the area, had earlier warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

Mr. Trump has insisted that he is not abandoning the militia, which has worked with the U.S. to defeat the Islamic State but which Turkey considers a terrorist group.

Go deeper: U.S. and Turkish officials say that Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly guided Mr. Trump toward positions that are at odds with those of his own national security advisers and Republican allies. Mr. Trump announced on Tuesday that Mr. Erdogan would visit the White House in November.