Turkey ready to attack Tal Rifaat and Manbij: Erdogan

"We are taking another step in establishing a 30-kilometer security zone along our southern border."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/06/01 18:20

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks in Japan, Jun. 29, 2019. (Photo: AFP)

Syria Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tal Rifaat Manbij Turkey-SDF tensions SDC

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey is ready to "clean up" Syria's Tal Rifaat and Manbij from "terrorist" groups, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday.

"We are taking another step in establishing a 30-kilometer security zone along our southern border. We will clean up Tal Rifaat and Manbij", Erdogan declared, according to the pro-Turkish government paper Daily Sabah.

Syrian Kurdish forces have a presence in both Tal Rifaat and Manbij, as do Russian and pro-Syrian government forces. Kurdish-led forces liberated Manbij from ISIS in the summer of 2016 with US-led coalition support. Earlier the same year, they captured Tal Rifaat from Syrian rebel groups.

Erdogan added that the planned military operations would gradually expand to other parts of northern Syria.

Last week, the Turkish president threatened to launch a new operation along Turkey's southern border to establish a safe zone for Syrian refugees. On Wednesday, he blamed the United States and Russia for failing to live up to their commitments to provide such a safe zone in the border region.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has blamed Turkey and Turkish-backed groups for violating ceasefire agreements with artillery bombardments and drone strikes.

Since April, Turkish attacks have increased in northern Aleppo and northeast Syria.

Turkey implemented separate ceasefire agreements with the United States and Russia in October 2019 to halt its fighting with the SDF.

Under the Russia-Turkey deal, the SDF was compelled to withdraw 30 kilometers from the Syrian border with Turkey while Turkish and Russian military forces would conduct regular joint patrols in a 10-kilometer-wide strip along the border.

Ilham Ahmed, the president of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), earlier called on the ceasefire guarantors to stop Turkish shelling.

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price has warned Ankara against launching a cross-border attack into Syria, calling on Turkey "to live up to the October 2019 joint statement, including to halt offensive operations in northeastern Syria."