Washington and Moscow are calling on Ankara to exercise restraint in Syria

Erdogan: Turkey will attack the Kurdish militants with tanks and soldiers

Turkish Defense Minister visits the Ground Forces Operations Center in Ankara.

Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey will attack militants with tanks and soldiers as soon as possible, after the escalation of revenge attacks along the Syrian border between Turkish forces and an armed Kurdish faction, while Washington and Moscow called, yesterday, on Ankara for restraint, after Turkish President's threat to Kurdish fighters.

Erdogan said in a televised speech, “We flew over the terrorists for a few days with our planes, our artillery and our drones.

God willing, we will eradicate them all soon with tanks, artillery and soldiers.”

Erdogan added, "We responded to this fierce attack that claimed the lives of six innocent people, including children, by eliminating terrorist organizations in Iraq and northern Syria."

"We know who is arming and who is encouraging the terrorists," he added.

Turkish and Syrian opposition sources said Turkish warplanes had penetrated airspace controlled by Russia and the United States for the first time to attack the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, mobilizing Syrian allies, likely to expand the campaign.

Reuters quoted three sources as saying that Turkey had prepared the Syrian opposition by proxy for a possible expanded operation, but that it had not taken a decision yet.

Yesterday, a Turkish march targeted a joint base of the international coalition led by Washington and the Syrian Democratic Forces, two of whose members were killed, according to a spokesman for those forces and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, headed by the Kurdish fighters, Farhad Shami, said that the Turkish march targeted "a joint base of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the international coalition to plan and launch operations against ISIS in the north of Al-Hasakah Governorate (northeast)."

According to Shami, the bombing of the march resulted in the death of two members of the anti-terror forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the wounding of three others.

The Turkish president's statements raised concerns in Washington and Moscow, prompting them to call on Ankara to exercise restraint.

"We call for de-escalation in Syria, to protect civilians, and to support the common goal of defeating ISIS," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

"We continue to oppose any uncoordinated military action in Iraq that violates Iraq's sovereignty," he added.

The United States supports the People's Protection Units in northeastern Syria as part of the fight against ISIS, while Russia supports groups loyal to the Syrian army in the same region.

Yesterday, the Kremlin warned Turkey against “destabilizing stability” in northern Syria.

"We understand Turkey's concerns related to its security, but at the same time, we call on all parties to refrain from any initiative that could lead to dangerous destabilization of the general situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"This may backfire and further complicate the security situation," he added.

On Monday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna expressed her "concern" about the air strikes launched by Turkey on the night of Saturday-Sunday, calling on Ankara to "restraint."

On Monday, Germany called on Turkey to respond "proportionate" in accordance with international law.

Yesterday, Turkey called on its allies, led by the United States, to "stop all support" for the People's Protection Units, the main Kurdish faction in Syria, which Ankara considers "terrorist", while Washington supports it in the fight against ISIS.

"We assure all our interlocutors, and the United States in particular, that the People's Protection Units are equivalent to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey and its Western allies classify as terrorist, and we strongly demand that they stop all support for terrorists," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, called on Moscow and Washington to prevent escalation.

"Our main efforts are currently focused on reducing escalation by the Turkish side, and we will do everything in our power to achieve this by communicating with all stakeholders in the Syrian file," he told AFP.

• The "Kremlin" warned Turkey yesterday against "destabilizing stability" in northern Syria.

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