Turkey Will Not Stop in Syria, Manbij and Idlib Are Next

“Last night I spoke with US President Trump on these issues. I discussed the same things with Putin two days ago. I told them: ‘We won’t take steps backward from here. We are on the side of the suffering and the oppressed,’” Erdogan said in an address at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul on Friday, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The Turkish military, along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), launched “Operation Olive Branch” against Kurds in Afrin on January 20, and Erdogan vowed that operations “will not end in Afrin. Next are Idlib and Manbij”.

However, a senior US official said Washington “has no intention to leave Manbij,” despite Turkey’s words.

“US forces are located in Manbij. We have made it very clear with the Turkish government that we will continue to operate there,” State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at a press conference in response to a question about Washington’s stance on Manbij.

Meanwhile, Erdogan stated that Turkey’s operations against the PKK and YPG are ongoing in various parts of Syria and Iraq and the number of “neutralized terrorists” in Syria since January 20 exceeds 3,700.

“We will continue. We previously struck them through the Euphrates Shield Operation. And 160,000 [Syrian] brothers and sisters were able to return to their homes in an area of 2,000 square kilometers thanks to that operation. This piece of land is now under our control and locals are returning to their homes,” he added.