Afrin, Syria

Turkey’s top security board will convene on Jan. 17 to discuss a potential military offensive into northern Syria’s Afrin region against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), after the United States announced that it will help the group to establish a 30,000-strong security force.

Turkey’s precautions against the Kurdish forces are not limited to Afrin, and can be expanded to Manbij, east of Euphrates River, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Jan. 17 in a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson in Canada's Vancouver. 

If any threat to Turkey is posed from Syria’s Afrin province, where Kurdish militants are dominant, the Turkish military will intervene, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated on Nov. 30.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Washington of sponsoring the Daesh terrorist group as well as failing to fulfill the promise to withdraw Syrian Kurdish forces from the Syrian regions liberated from Daesh militants.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the Turkish army’s deployment near Afrin province in northern Syria, controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), is part of defense measures against threats to Turkey.

Turkish military preparations in northwest Syria are legitimate measures against a threat from the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Afrin region, and Turkey will retaliate against any hostile move, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş told Reuters on July 5.

The Turkish military hit Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets in Syria with howitzers and rockets on July 3, with the defense minister vowing that Ankara would not hesitate to stage operations against the group, which it views as terrorist. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Istanbul on July 2, as tension soared on the Syrian border between Turkish troops and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

Turkey will respond to any kind of terror threat coming from the soil of Syria or any other country, presidential spokesperson said on July 1, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Turkey will retaliate against any cross-border gunfire from the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Syria and will not remain silent in the face of anti-Turkey activities by terrorist groups abroad, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on June 29.