Erdogan: Russia supports new Turkish military operation in Syria

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Ankara and Moscow continue to coordinate their actions in Syria as Russia reportedly agreed with Turkish army's operation to neutralize the armed Kurdish formations in the Syrian canton of Afrin.

Russia is not against the new military operation of Turkey in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists in Germany, Turkish media reported on July 7.

The President of Turkey is currently in Hamburg to attend the next G20 summit.

Erdogan noted that Ankara and Moscow discussed details of a possible new military operation in Syria.

Earlier, Erdogan said that Turkey can launch a new military operation in Syria jointly with the Free Syrian Army in case of threat to the national security by the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units).

He posted on his official Twitter account: “I am calling on the whole world. We will never allow setting up of a [Kurdish] state in northern Syria no matter what the cost may be.”

While the PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization, the YPG have received U.S. support as the dominant component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on July 6 that Turkey is in detailed talks with Russia over the conflict in Syria.

It has been suggested that Russian and Turkish troops could cooperate in northern Syria to create buffer zones between Russian-backed regime forces to the south and opposition forces in the north.

The Turkish and Russian sides agreed that if a new military operation of the Turkish Armed Forces begins in the Syrian city of Afrin, the Russian military contingent will have to relocate to another city.

Starting from June 21, Turkey began to pull military equipment to the border with Syria.

Military equipment is concentrated in the Turkish province of Kilis, bordering the Syrian territory controlled by the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units) and PYD (Kurdish Democratic Union Party) forces.

The Turkish Armed Force launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo on August 24, 2016. The operation was dubbed the Euphrates Shield.

The Turkish-led Euphrates Shield was aimed to improve security, support coalition forces, and eliminate the terror threat along the Turkish border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish artillery and jets.