Turkey was forced to launch its military operation in northern Syria thanks to continued US arms deliveries to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said, Trend reports citing Sputnik.
“First, the US told us: wait, we will withdraw our forces. We waited, and they did not remove them. Then we agreed on joint patrols, which turned out to be cosmetic in nature. At the same time, they continued to supply the YPG with weapons. We put up with this for a long time, and, finally, our patience came to an end. We made this decision based on the situation in the field,” Cavusoglu said, speaking to CNN Turk on Thursday.
The foreign minister also challenged US efforts to prohibit Turkish warplanes from flying over Syrian airspace without its permission.
“The US is saying that without the permission of its coordination center in Qatar, not a single plane will take off. But we are fighting with terrorism here. And there is a decision by the UN on fighting terrorism...We have informed everyone, not because we need permission, but because we are members of a coalition and in order to prevent accidents and clashes. This is Syrian territory, and the US does not have the right to command Syrian airspace, and decide who gets to fly and who doesn’t,” Cavusoglu said.