Erdoghan: Syria's offensive could expand as far as Iraq border

President Rajab Tayyib Erdoghan says Turkey may extend its operation against the Afrin region in Syria to other cities as far east as the Iraqi border.

According to Press TV, addressing provincial leaders from his ruling Justice and Development Party on Friday, the Turkish leader vowed to "clean up" the city of Manbij, east of Afrin, also held by US-backed YPG militants.

“We will continue our fight until there is no terrorist on our border leading to Iraq,” Erdoghan said. 

Erdoghan held phone talks with US President Donald Trump late on Wednesday. The US said Trump had urged Turkey to "limit its military actions" but a Turkish official said the US statement did "not accurately reflect the content" of the call.

On Friday, the Turkish leader criticized Washington's call for the operation to be "short" and "limited" in scope.

"How long has Afghanistan lasted? Nearly 20 years. How long has it lasted in Iraq? Nearly 18 years!" Erdoghan said. 

Turkey views Syrian Kurdish militants as allies of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which has been fighting a separatist war against Ankara for decades.

The offensive began days after the US said it will work with Kurdish militants to set up a 30,000-strong force inside Syria near the Turkish border.

Ankara first deployed troops to northern Syria in August 2016 after Kurdish militants refused to withdraw from the Syrian territory they had seized from Daesh.

Amid the increasingly complex theater of war in northern Syria, the Kurds on Thursday pleaded with Damascus to deploy troops to secure the borders of the Afrin area in the face of the Turkish invasion.

SS