ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey’s next target in Syria is the liberation of Manbij and Raqqa, respectively controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is constituted and controlled mostly by militants from the PKK’s Syrian affiliate People’s Protection Units (YPG)) and the Daesh terror group.
Talking with journalists in the presidential plane during his return trip from Pakistan, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey shall not allow an independent terrorist state presence along its border.
”After the liberation of al-Bab from Daesh terrorists, Turkey’s new target in Syria is Manbij. Manbij is a city which belongs to Arabs, and the SDF must also not be in Raqqa,” the Turkish president said.
Erdogan added that, if needed, Turkey can cooperate with Russia for this purpose, while also noting that Turkey does not plan on settling in Syria permanently.
On February 23, Turkish army and FSA units cleared the northern Syrian town of al-Bab from Daesh terrorists in a successful progress. On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey’s next target in Syria is the YPG-held town of Manbij.
Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24, 2016, declaring that it was exercising its right of self-defense codified under United Nations Charter Article 51. A National Security Council press release on Nov. 30, 2016 stated that the operation’s objectives are to maintain border security and confront Daesh terrorism within the framework of the U.N. Charter.
It also emphasized not allowing the PKK terrorist organization, or its Syrian affiliates the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People’s Protection Units (YPG), to establish a corridor of terror on Turkey’s doorstep
