Turkey's anti-terror operation in northern Syria's Afrin will be conducted in cooperation with the Syrian opposition, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday.
Speaking to the media after a parliamentary group meeting of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Erdoğan said he was not considering to call U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the operation, adding that talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin continue.
The president also expressed doubt that the U.S. plan to form a 30,000-strong army led by terrorist PKK's Syrian affiliates in northern Syria would boost border security, saying that even the Assad regime did not "lean toward" the initiative.
During the AK Party meeting, Erdoğan reiterated Turkey's readiness to conduct anti-terror operations in Afrin and Manbij, saying Turkey "shortly will root out all terror nests in Syria" starting with the PKK's Syrian offshoot People's Protection Units (YPG)-held areas.
On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — which is dominated by the PKK terror group's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed-wing YPG — to set up a force that would operate along the borders with Turkey and Iraq, as well as within Syria.
The announcement drew harsh criticism from Iran, Russia and especially, Turkey.
