Baku, Azerbaijan, July 22
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkish Armed Forces are preparing for large-scale operations in northern Syria, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.
New military operations against PYD/YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK, will be carried out in the territory east of the Euphrates River.
On December 12, 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish armed forces will launch a new military operation in northern Syria against PYD/YPG.
Erdogan said that there are the US soldiers in the ranks of the terrorists in Syria. "Despite the US promised Turkey not to support the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist organization - PYD/YPG, Washington did not keep its word," the president added.
On June 4, 2018, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed a roadmap on Syria's Manbij during talks in Washington. Earlier, Cavusoglu and Pompeo had a meeting in Brussels and discussed the Operation Olive Branch, as well as other issues.
On January 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.
On August 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the "Islamic State", and liberated, with the support of the Syrian opposition, Al-Bab town and the border town of Jarablus in northern Syria.
The safety zone in the north of Syria includes a territory 32 kilometers deep and 460 kilometers long along the Syrian border with Turkey. In the case of the creation of this zone, it will be divided into two parts, the first part will start from the Iraqi-Syrian border and will be extended to the Syrian city of Qamishli, because the Syrian government forces control this city.
The second part of the safety zone will start from Qamishli and will be extended to Jarabulus city, which was liberated from the terrorists of the “Islamic State” (IS) as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016.
Manbij city, where Turkey had previously intended to conduct anti-terrorist operations, is not a part of the safety zone.
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