Turkey will not wait for US “permission” to launch a new offensive in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks published on Sunday, defying a warning from Washington. “One cannot fight terrorism while waiting for the permission of whoever,” Erdogan told a group of journalists upon returning from a visit to Azerbaijan. “What will we do if the United States does not do its part in the fight against terrorism? We will get by on our own,” he said. Erdogan’s talk of an offensive comes as he threatens to block the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, which have sought to join the Western alliance out of alarm at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.