A top Turkish official says Ankara’s planned incursion into northeastern Syria aims to eradicate the threats posed by both Syrian Kurdish forces and the Islamic State group.
Fahrettin Altun, communications director for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says on Twitter that “Turkey’s intention is clear: to dismantle the terrorist corridor on our border. To fight against (the) PKK, which is the enemy of the Kurdish people. To combat (IS) and prevent its resurgence.”
His comments come after American troops began pulling back from positions along the border in northeast Syria ahead of an expected Turkish invasion to drive Syrian Kurdish fighters away from the frontier.
Turkey considers the US-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists who are allied with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey for 35 years.
Altun writes: “Areas liberated from PKK will have services provided by Turkey, rather than enduring the occupation by a terrorist militia.”
— AP
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