SULAIMANI (ESTA) — We are ready to encounter Turkey’s military incursion in northern Syria, The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Friday.
Speaking in a TV interview, General Commander of (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said, “Our forces are quite ready to encounter any military aggression of Turkey in the northeast of Syria”.
“We demand Sweden to retain its support for SDF in the fight against terror,” Abdi said in the interview.
Turkey, which has mounted four operations in northern Syria since 2016, has vowed a new offensive against the Kurdish force People Defence forces (YPG), the spearhead of the SDF, which controls swathes of territory at the Turkish border.
While Turkey views the Kurdish-led forces in Syria as terrorists and a national security threat, the United States views the SDF as an ally that has helped drive the Islamic State from vast areas of Syria.
Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
