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Syria: Turkish forces to move on Manbij, Raqqa

October 27, 2016 at 12:29 pm

Turkish Armed Forces in northern Syria [Anadolu Agency]

 

Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria will target the town of Manbij, recently snatched from Daesh by Kurdish-led forces, and the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today.

Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish warplanes, tanks and artillery, launched an operation dubbed “Euphrates Shield” in August to push Daesh and Kurdish militia forces away from the border area of northern Syria.

In a speech in Ankara broadcast live, Erdogan said he had informed US President Barack Obama about his plans for the operation in a telephone call yesterday. Before Manbij and Raqqa, the operation will target the town of Al-Bab, he said.

Al-Bab is northeast of the rebel-held eastern sections of Aleppo, and its capture may offer a glimmer of hope for Syrian factions opposed to President Bashar Al-Assad, who are currently under siege and sustained aerial and artillery bombardment by the Moscow-backed Assad regime.

Turkey has been angered at Washington’s support for the Kurdish YPG militia in its battle against Daesh in Syria, with Ankara regarding it as a hostile force with deep ties to Kurdish militants fighting in Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK are considered as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

A top US military commander said yesterday that YPG fighters will be included in the force to isolate Raqqa. However, Arab forces, and not Kurdish ones, are expected to be the ones to take the city itself, US officials say.

Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik told state broadcaster TRT today that Turkey had asked the United States not to allow the YPG to enter Raqqa, saying it was ready to provide the necessary military support to take over the town.

Erdogan also said that the Iraqi region of Sinjar, west of Mosul, was on its way to becoming a new base for PKK militants and that Turkey would not allow this to happen.