Erdogan calls on Putin to ‘clear’ Kurdish forces from northern Syria

By AFP 11 December 2022, 2:45 pm

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In this February 7, 2018 file photo, American troops look out toward the border with Turkey from a small outpost near the town of Manbij, northern Syria. (AP Photo/Susannah George, File)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells Russian President Vladimir Putin that it is imperative the Kremlin “clear” Kurdish forces from northern Syria.

Erdogan has been threatening to launch a new military incursion into northern Syria to push out Kurdish forces that he blames for a November bomb blast that killed six people in Istanbul. A 2019 agreement between Moscow and Ankara ended another ground offensive by setting up a 30-kilometer (19-mile) “safe zone” to protect Turkey against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory.

Erdogan tells Putin in a phone call that is is “important to clear the [Kurdish fighters] from the border to a depth of at least 30 kilometers,” his office says.

Erdogan “stated this was a priority,” the Turkish presidency says.