Turkey threatens to resume Syria operation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's foreign minister said Ankara would launch a new military operation in northeast Syria if the area was not cleared of what he called terrorists, state-owned Anadolu agency reported on Monday, November 18, according to The New York Times.

Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying that the United States and Russia had not done what was required under agreements that halted a Turkish offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia in northeastern Syria last month.

The deals stipulated that the YPG would be removed from a swathe of land bordering Turkey in northeastern Syria.

Cavusoglu called on Washington and Moscow on Monday to do what is necessary under the deals.

"If we do not obtain a result, we will do what is necessary, just as we launched the operation after trying with the U.S.," Cavusoglu was quoted as saying, referring to work with Washington to remove the YPG from the area before Turkey launched its cross-border incursion on Oct. 9.

Ankara views the YPG, the main component of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that helped the United States defeat Islamic State, as a terrorist group with links to Kurdish militants on Turkish soil.

Turkey's latest offensive was widely condemned by Ankara's Western allies, who said the assault could hinder the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria. Turkey has dismissed the concerns, saying it will continue to combat Islamic State.