BALADI NEWS
Turkey is ready to act on its southern border with Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, after warning that it could take unilateral steps if the US does not establish a “safe zone” in northeast Syria this month.
“Our preparations along our borders are complete,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Saturday before departing to attend a UN General Assembly meeting, reported Reuters.
NATO allies Turkey and the US have started joint land and air patrols along part of the border strip, but Ankara says Washington is moving too slowly to establish a sufficiently large safe zone to push Syrian Kurdish forces from the border.
Turkey has been angered by US support for Kurdish-led forces which fought ISIS in Syria. It considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters a terrorist organization and wants them removed from more than 400 km (250 miles) of border.
The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces has said they will pull back up to 14 km in some areas. Turkey says the US had agreed that the “safe zone” should extend 32 km into Syria.
Erdogan's comments about border preparations came a day after two security sources said doctors have been stationed in southern Turkish provinces to prepare for a possible incursion into Syria.
One source said doctors’ leave had been suspended. “We have been preparing for a long time,” the source said. “The operation can be conducted whenever deemed necessary.”
Source: Asharq Al-Awsat.