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Turkey has completed preparations for a new operation in northern Syria to "destroy" a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers a terrorist group, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.
The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) holds territory east of the River Euphrates, where Turkey has a fresh attack against the militia.
"We are going to destroy the terrorist structure in the East of the Euphrates." We have completed our preparations, plans, programs regarding this issue, "Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling party in parliament.
Erdogan appeared to indirectly confirm Turkish state media reports that Turkey's military fired artillery shells at YPG positions east of the Euphrates in the Kobane region of northern Syria on Sunday. The YPG has held the area since 2015.
"In fact, in the past few days, we have begun real interventions against the terrorist organization," Erdogan said, without giving further details.
"We are going to breathe down the necks of the terrorist organization with full and effective operations.
Erdogan has previously made similar threats and on Friday gave the YPG a "final warning".
The YPG has worked closely with the United States in the fight against the Islamic State jihadists in Syria, straining relations between Washington and Ankara, which says the militia is a "terrorist offshoot" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK has a deadly insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
– Joint US-Turkey patrols –
Mantra, West of the Euphrates, after Ankara is attacking the city.
The YPG holds swathes of territory in Syria's north and northeast. Manbij is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group dominated by the YPG.
Turkey and the United States agreed to conduct independent, coordinated and coordinated this year.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Tuesday that training had been completed and joint patrols would begin.
Akar added that Turkey's next target would be east of the Euphrates.
Earlier this year, Turkish military forces supported Syrian opposition fighters in the West Africa region of the YPG during a two-month air and ground offensive dubbed "Olive Branch".
Ankara already launched an offensive between 2016 and 2017 against YPG control from linking up.
Following several years of tension, there were signs of relations between Washington and Ankara after an American pastor, who had been detained in Turkey for two years, was released on October 12.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to indirectly confirm that the Turkish military fired artillery shells at YPG positions in northern Syria on Sunday
