Erdoğan signals military operation into Syria’s Afrin, Manbij ‘if terrorists do not pull out in one week’

ELAZIĞ

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 13 signaled a possible military operation into Syria’s Afrin and Manbij, controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), “if terrorists do not pull out in one week.”

“In Manbij, if they break promises, we will take matter into our own hands until there are no terrorists left. They will see what we’ll do in about a week,” Erdoğan said.

“If the terrorists in Afrin don’t surrender we will destroy them,” he added.

Speaking at the provincial congress meetings of his ruling Justice and Development (AKP) in the eastern province of Elazığ, Erdoğan said Turkey would conduct military operations in Afrin if YPG militants do not withdraw, adding that Turkey was disappointed with the United States for not keeping its promises.

“The U.S. sent 4,900 trucks of weapons in Syria. We know this. This is not what allies do,” Erdoğan said.

“We know they sent 2,000 planes full of weapons,” he added.

He said that Turkey would also clear its border with Iraq from “terrorists.”

Erdoğan said the YPG was trying to establish a “terror corridor” on Turkey’s southern border.

“With the Euphrates Shield operation we cut the terror corridor right in the middle. We hit them one night suddenly. With the Idlib operation, we are collapsing the western wing,” Erdoğan said, referring to Afrin.

“Turkey will continue to be in the field and at the table in all matters concerning its national security,” Erdoğan said during another address at the provincial congress meeting of the AKP in the eastern province of Bingöl.

Erdoğan said that any venture in the region “has no chance of success” if Turkey has no consent in it, referring to the YPG’s effort to settle in Syria’s northern regions along the Turkish border.