Erdogan threatens to re-launch Syria operation if truce not respected

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Turkey's army could restart its ground offensive in northeast Syria if Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) do not pull back from a so-called safe zone under a five-day ceasefire.

"If the promises are kept until Tuesday evening, the safe zone issue will be resolved. If it fails, the operation... will start the minute 120 hours are over," the Turkish leader told reporters during a briefing in Istanbul on Friday.

He said the Turkish armed forces would remain in the region "because the security there requires this." Erdogan added that there had been no issues so far.

The “safe zone” would be 32 kilometers (20 miles) deep, and 444 kilometers (275 miles) long, he said, and “not between (the Kurdish-populated towns of ) Kobani and Tal Abyad.” 

Erdogan said the region between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn had been cleared, “but this is not over. The process is ongoing.”

The Turkish president then pointed to a letter from US President Donald Trump, who had called for a deal to avoid conflict in northeastern Syria.

Turkish-language CNN Turk television news network reported that Erdogan had rejected the request, and Trump’s letter was “thrown in the trash.”

Erdogan said on Friday the letter was not in line with "political and diplomatic courtesy."

SS