- Ankara will continue training troops until Kurdish militants "disarm"
- Since 2016, Ankara has carried out several major operations against the SDF
Ankara will continue training troops until Kurdish militants "disarm"
A source in the defense ministry said this on Thursday, stressing that Turkey is still under threat on its border with northern Syria.
The comments come amid fears that the Turks could attack the Kurdish-controlled town of Kobanê, located on the Syrian border some 50 kilometers northeast of Manbij.
Thousands of Turkish troops are deployed in northern Syria, and the country supports a proxy force that regularly fights the SDF, a US-backed Kurdish-led force that Ankara considers to be an offshoot of its implacable domestic enemy, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
"The threat that this terrorist organization poses to our borders and our areas of operations in Syria has not gone away," the source explained.
"Until the PKK/YPG terrorist organization disarms and its foreign fighters leave Syria, our preparations and measures will continue in the context of the fight against terrorism."
Turkey accuses the YPG (People's Protection Units), which makes up the bulk of the SDF, of having links with the PKK, which both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.
Since 2016, Ankara has carried out several major operations against the SDF
However, Turkey believes that the new Syrian leaders and Ankara-backed rebels "will liberate the regions occupied by the PKK/YPG terrorist organization," a source in the ministry said.
The current fighting between Turkish-backed groups and Syrian Kurdish fighters comes a week after Islamist-led rebels overthrew long-time Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Washington announced on Tuesday that it had helped broker a deal to extend the fragile ceasefire in Manbij and is now seeking a broader agreement with Turkey.
However, the defense ministry says Ankara will not be involved in any talks with the SDF, stating that "there can be no question of us meeting with any terrorist organization."
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the ceasefire in Manbij had been "extended up to and including the weekend, and we will try to extend it as long as possible in the future".
However, the Turkish source said that "every step taken by terrorist groups is a threat to the security of our country and we are monitoring Syria and taking preventive and destructive measures".
Based on ELTA reports
