SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey will rid Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas of “terrorists” during its operation into northern Syria.
“We are cleaning Tal Rifaat and Manbij from terrorists,” Erdogan said in a speech to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, according to T24.
He also said Turkey’s planned military operations would gradually continue in other parts of northern Syria.
His comments came a week after he pledged a new military incursion on Turkey’s southern border targeting the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, which Ankara views as a terrorist group.
On Tuesday, the United States said it remained “deeply concerned” about discussions of potential increased military activity in northern Syria.
The United States continues to support the maintenance of a current ceasefire lines, calling on all sides to respect the truce and work to towards a political solution to the conflict, State Department’s Spokesman Ned price said.
“We would condemn any escalation that has the potential to jeopardize that,” Price said in a press conference.
“We believe that any effort to do otherwise could be counterproductive to our goals to bring about an end to the broader conflict in Syria, but also the tremendous progress that we’ve made together, including with our Kurdish partners, in the effort against ISIS that has achieved such important steps in recent years,” he added.
Price also said Washington expected Ankara to live up to the October 2019 joint statement between the U.S. and Turkey, including to halt offensive operations in northeastern Syria.
“We are concerned that any new offensive would further undermine regional stability and would put at risk those hard-won gains in the campaign against ISIS.”
On Monday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with Erdogan’s chief adviser Ibrahim Kalin, reiterating the importance of refraining from escalation in Syria to preserve existing ceasefire lines and avoid further destabilization.
Ankara has conducted three incursions into northern Syria since 2016, seizing hundreds of kilometers of land and pushing some 30 km deep into the country, in operations targeting mainly the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG forces.
