Turkey’s military could launch new operation in northern Syria – Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that Ankara’s military could soon launch a new operation across the border into northern Syria, in zones held by Syrian Kurdish fighters. Erdogan’s statement is renewing a threat to expand Turkey’s military operations into areas east of the Euphrates River held by US-backed Syrian Kurds, AP said. Ankara considers the Syrian Kurdish militia as a terrorist organization and part of a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey. “We will leave the terror nests east of the Euphrates in disarray,” the Turkish leader said on Friday at a military ceremony honoring Turkish commando soldiers. Turkey launched an incursion into Syria in 2016 and 2018, into areas west of the Euphrates, pushing Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants as well as Syrian Kurdish fighters from the border area.