Daily Times

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday Turkey would “do what is necessary for its security” after what it said was a rise in cross-border attacks by Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that an attack that Ankara blamed on the US-backed YPG that killed two Turkish police was “the final straw” and that Turkey was determined to eliminate threats originating in north Syria.

“We have no patience left regarding some regions in Syria which have the quality of being the source of attacks on our country,” Erdogan said in a news conference following a cabinet meeting.

“We are determined to eliminate the threats originating from here either with the active forces there or by our own means,” he added.

Turkey said police in northern Syria’s Azaz region were hit in a guided missile attack on Sunday launched by the YPG, which Turkey says is a terrorist group. On Monday, shells believed to have been fired from a YPG-controlled area further east exploded in two areas of Karkamis in southern Turkey, Ankara said.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Cavusoglu said the United States and Russia had not kept their promises to ensure the YPG withdraw from the Syrian border area.

“In the latest attacks … both Russia and the US have a responsibility as they did not keep their promises,” Cavusoglu said. “Since they are not keeping their promises, we will do what is necessary for our security,” he said.

Turkey controls swathes of territory in north Syria with allied Syrian rebels, after carrying out three separate cross-border offensive into the region against Islamic State and the YPG. Ankara has been infuriated by the US support for the YPG and demands its NATO ally ceases its backing.

Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who have been waging a deadly fight against the Turkish state that has killed tens of thousands since the 1980s.

But Washington has partnered with the YPG to fight ISIL in Syria, brushing off angry criticism from Turkey. The militia remains a sore point in Erdogan’s uneasy relations with US President Joe Biden.

In separate agreements with Moscow and Washington in 2019, Turkey halted its offensive in northeast Syria in exchange for the withdrawal of YPG militants 30 km south of its border, but has since repeatedly complained of violations and accused both countries of not keeping promises.