Erdogan urges West to stop IDF operations in Syria, even as he signals possible Turkish invasion

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggests that Turkey may intervene in northern Syria to eliminate what he claims are threats to its security posed by Syrian Kurdish groups.

Even as he mulls an invasion, Erdogan also claims the US and Western powers have a “responsibility to stop Israel” from operating in Syrian territory.

Unlike Turkey, whose proxies control large swathes of northern Syria, the IDF only entered a buffer zone this month between Syria and the Israeli-annexed side of the Golan Heights, saying it is doing so temporarily, until a new regime is put in place that can guarantee the upholding of the 1974 disengagement agreement that formed the demilitarized zone.

Erdogan’s statement to a group of journalists also comes amid reports of fighting between Turkish-backed fighters and the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, near the border town of Kobani and the Tishrin dam on the Euphrates River.

“We will show that the time has come to neutralize the terrorist organizations present in Syria,” Erdogan says, according to a transcript of his remarks. “We will do this to prevent any further threats coming from the south of our borders.”

Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because its main component is a group aligned with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is banned in Turkey. Earlier this week, the SDF said US-led mediation efforts failed to reach a permanent truce in Syria’s north.

“The end of the road for the terrorist organizations is near,” Erdogan says. “There is no room for terrorists in the future of the region. The shelf life of the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions has run out.”

Erdogan says that by securing the border area in Syria, Turkey would also prevent the PKK from recruiting fighters.

The Turkish leader, meanwhile, welcomes the fact that many countries are establishing contact with Syria’s new leaders, saying it is “a sign of trust” in the new administration. He says Turkey will assist the country to establish new “state structures.”

Erdogan adds that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will travel to Syria soon.