ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey will carry out a cross-border offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not meet Ankara’s demands, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday, while adding that Syria’s new rulers must address the issue.
Turkey considers the YPG, which spearheads the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish militants waging a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state. It has carried out several incursions against the group in the past.
Speaking to broadcaster CNN Turk, Fidan also said President Tayyip Erdogan had given orders for Turkish soldiers to take over the management of prisons and camps in northeastern Syria holding Islamic State members – currently run by the SDF – if the new Syrian leadership is unable to do so.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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