Turkey is moving military equipment to the border with Syria, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.
This measure is being taken as part of the fight against PYD/YPG, the Syrian wing of terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
It is also reported that part of the military equipment will be redeployed to northern Syria, in the territories liberated as part of the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch military operations.
In early May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish Armed Forces will begin operations in northern Syria around the city of Manbij in the near future. He said that the Turkish Armed Forces will also launch operations in the east of the Euphrates River against the militants of PYD/YPG, the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
On December 12, 2018, Erdogan said that the Turkish armed forces will launch a new military operation in northern Syria against PYD/YPG. Erdogan further said that there are the US soldiers in the ranks of the terrorists in Syria. “Despite the US promised Turkey not to support the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist organization – PYD/YPG, Washington did not keep its word,” the president added.
On June 4, 2018, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed a roadmap on Syria’s Manbij during talks in Washington. Earlier, Cavusoglu and Pompeo had a meeting in Brussels and discussed the Operation Olive Branch, as well as other issues.
On January 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria. On August 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the “Islamic State”, and liberated, with the support of the Syrian opposition, Al-Bab town and the border town of Jarabulus in northern Syria.
The safety zone in the north of Syria includes a territory 32 kilometers deep and 460 kilometers long along the Syrian border with Turkey. In the case of the creation of this zone, it will be divided into two parts, the first part will start from the Iraqi-Syrian border and will be extended to the Syrian city of Qamishli, because the Syrian government forces control this city.
The second part of the safety zone will start from Qamishli and will be extended to Jarabulus city, which was liberated from the terrorists of the “Islamic State” (IS) as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016.
The city of Manbij, where Turkey had previously intended to conduct anti-terrorist operations, is not a part of the safety zone.
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