US threats of imposing sanctions on Iran 'unjust': Turkey's Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed as unjust the United States' move to impose sanctions against Iran and threaten to further toughen them.

In a speech at the opening of the Turkish parliament on Monday, Erdogan added that excluding Iran from regional matters is wrong.

He emphasized that the US had taken the wrong path by threatening and using blackmail instead of dialogue, saying it was impossible for any country to trust Washington.

In his speech, Erdogan said his country seeks to secure control of the region of northern Syria east of the Euphrates River, removing Kurdish militants, known as the YPG, from the area.

He added that Turkey also aims to clear Iraq's northwestern Sinjar region and northern city of Qandil of Kurdish militants.

Turkey started operation Olive Branch in Syria in late January with an alleged aim of pushing back Kurdish militants, known as the YPG, from the city of Afrin and surrounding areas. The Turkish military finally captured Afrin’s central neighborhood after more than two months of fighting, which inflicted relatively heavy losses on its ranks.

Syria has criticized the operation. Turkey, however, has vowed to press ahead with attacks on positions of the YPG, which it sees as an arm of the outlawed militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) at home, until the entire territories west of the Euphrates River and Turkey’s border in the south are secured.

The Turkish president said in June that his country is also ready to attack northern Iraq if the Iraqi central government does not take action against Kurdish militant groups there.

Erdogan said Turkey may strike the Iraqi city of Qandil, "at any moment one evening" and added that a military action would go on to include Sinjar and Makhmur as well.

SS