Turkey ready to enter Syria "shortly"

This weekend, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a televised speech declaring that the country will carry out a military operation in northern Syria. According to Erdogan, the offensive can consist of both air and land forces.

On Tuesday, the country's foreign ministry stated that all military preparations were ready and, on Wednesday, the president's press chief said that Turkish forces will cross the border "shortly," Reuters writes.

In connection with Turkey announcing that they were ready to launch the offensive, the Kurdish autonomous administration of Rojava in northeastern Syria called for "general mobilization" along the Turkish border, the AP writes.

The area of ​​Turkey is planning to enter east of the Euphrates River and is controlled by the US-backed SDF alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the Kurdish YPG militia. During the Syrian civil war, the SDF helped fight IS, which is why they are supported by the United States. However, Turkey considers the YPG as a terrorist group linked to the Kurdish PKK in Turkey.

If Turkey's military plans become a reality, the SDF threatens to respond with "complete war".

"We will not hesitate to respond to an unprovoked attack from Turkey with full war along the entire border to defend us and our people," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said earlier.

At the same time, the White House announced on Sunday that it had withdrawn between 50 and 100 soldiers from the Turkish border in northern Syria as Turkey was ready to enter. The message came after a conversation between President Donald Trump and President Erdogan.

Trump has defended the decision, which in effect means leaving the Syrian Kurds who have long been the country's allies in the fight against IS, saying that other countries must also take responsibility in the region. In the same vein, however, he has also taken to Twitter, threatening to "totally destroy and wipe out Turkey's economy" if Turkey does something that he "thinks is beyond the limit".