Reuters news agency quoted Turkish officials as saying that Ankara is preparing to launch a military operation against the Kurdish People's Protection Units in northern Syria in response to attacks that killed two Turkish policemen, in the event that prospective talks with Washington and Moscow in this regard fail.
"It is necessary to cleanse the areas (in northern Syria), especially the Tel Rifaat area, from which attacks against us are launched constantly," the agency quoted a Turkish official as saying.
The official added that the army and the National Intelligence Agency are making preparations for a possible military operation against the People's Protection Units, the military wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party, and the main component of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces.
"The decision to that has been taken, and the necessary coordination will take place with certain countries. The issue will be discussed with Russia and the United States," he added.
Reuters quoted two Turkish officials as saying that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the matter with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, during the G-20 summit, which will be held in the Italian capital, Rome, at the end of October.
Erdogan described the recent attack in which two Turkish policemen were killed in Azaz as the straw that broke the camel's back (Anatolia Agency)
30 km further
A third Turkish official said that the Kurdish units must be pushed back at least another 30 kilometers, noting that Russia fully controls the areas from which the recent attacks took place, along with some Iranian elements.
The same official added that if there is no result of diplomacy and the Kurdish militants do not leave these areas, the military operation will most likely be inevitable.
Reuters said that the Turkish official was referring to the city of Tel Rifaat - which is also located in the countryside of Aleppo - and several other locations.
After the attack that killed two Turkish policemen in the Azaz area in Aleppo countryside, Erdogan said that his country is determined to eliminate the threats coming from northern Syria, describing the attack as "the straw that broke the camel's back."
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also said that his country will do everything necessary to cleanse the regions of northern Syria from what he described as terrorists linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), adding that Washington and Moscow are also responsible for the attacks carried out by Kurdish units against Turkish forces in northern Syria.
Ankara confirmed that the latest attack on the Turkish police in the Syrian Azaz was carried out by a guided missile last Sunday from the city of Tel Rifaat.
In the past few years, the Turkish forces carried out military operations, which were able to expel the militants of the Kurdish units from large areas along the Turkish-Syrian border.
Injuries among the Turkish soldiers after they were targeted by an explosive device near Idlib pic.twitter.com/A33IMLoY79
— Shadows of a flock ||
Zelal katee (@zelal_abo_adnan) October 15, 2021
Explosion in Idlib
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that an explosive device targeted on Friday evening a Turkish military convoy on the Idlib Bab al-Hawa road in Idlib countryside (northwestern Syria).
The reporter quoted sources in the Syrian opposition as saying that the bomb had wounded 3, including a member of the Turkish army.
Syrian activists and local media reported that a large explosion rocked the city of Idlib and areas in northern Syria in the evening, as a result of targeting a Turkish military convoy in the vicinity of the city of Maarat Misrin.