Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish forces in northern Syria could begin “tomorrow, next week or at any time”. This was stated by the spokesman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, as reported by Haberturk. For more than a week, Ankara has launched a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq but, for now, only with air raids and artillery fired from Turkish territory. Erdogan mentioned the possibility of an intervention in the future also with soldiers and tanks
Turkey “has the right to defend itself” from terrorist attacks, but the United States does not want to see “actions” in Syria that lead to civilian casualties or compromise US alliances in an anti-ISIS key. This was stated by the spokesman of the National Security Council, John Kirby, in reference to the recent terrorist attack in Istanbul and Turkish military actions in Syria. Regarding the attack, Kirby said the United States “condemned” the act, but “I’m not in a position to say who did it.”
Turkey will go ahead with the operation to establish a 30-kilometre security strip on the Syrian border, to counter the Kurdish militiamen of the PKK, despite the USA and Russia having withdrawn from discussions on the matter. This was stated, reports the Anadolu agency, by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We do not need to get permission from anyone to take steps regarding the security of our homeland and our people, and we will not be accountable to anyone,” Erdogan added. The Turkish president reiterated his commitment to “destroy the terrorist group” until “its last militant has not been neutralized”.
Kalon made it known that Turkey is in contact with neighboring countries and its allies regarding the military operations it intends to conduct but does not need to ask permission before acting. Erdogan’s spokesman said that even if the US were not calm about an offensive against Kurdish forces in northern Syria, this would not have an impact on Ankara’s military action.