Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that a military operation against the so-called "terrorists" will be launched in the east of the Euphrates, noting that he received a positive answer from US President Donald Trump on them during a telephone conversation between them.
"We received positive responses from Trump about the launching of our military operations east of the Euphrates, which we announced last week, and we will activate the Syrian territory Shubra Shubra until neutralizing the last terrorist in the region," Erdogan said in a speech in Konya.
He added that the army of his country "ready to attack the terrorists in Syria at any moment .. We can start our operations in the Syrian territory at any time in accordance with our plan and enter the territory from the areas we see appropriate along the border line, which extends for 500 kilometers, American soldiers. "
"It is time to clean up the eastern region of the Euphrates from the terrorists, and I say to those who support them: You are behaving erroneously. Since we are strategic partners with the United States, Washington should do what is necessary," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said last Wednesday that Turkey would start a military operation "within days", stressing that the goal of the operation "will never be American soldiers."
He said that this process would facilitate a political solution in Syria, quoted by the Turkish media as saying "a tactic has been followed by undeniable procrastination in Manbaj by the United States, and is still followed at the moment."
It is noteworthy that Turkey has not yet launched a military operation in the area to the east of the Euphrates River, but continued to frequent air strikes to sites of the PKK in mountain areas in northern Iraq.
Ankara's relationship with Washington over the Syrian issue has long been marked by controversy. The United States supports the protection units of the Kurdish people in its fight against the organization of the Islamic state, while Turkey classifies these units as terrorist organizations.
The United States has also set up monitoring posts on the Syrian border and said it would prevent any security threats to Turkey from Syria, warning Ankara not to carry out any new incursion.