Alwaght- Turkish President threatened to launch a new military campaign on the Syrian soil after a rocket attack blamed on the Kurdish militants killed two Turkish special force police in northern Syria.
“We have run out of patience regarding certain areas in Syria that have been the source of terrorist attacks on our country. We are determined to eliminate the threats originating from those areas,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, referring to Kurdish-held city of Tel Rifaat, located near the city of Azaz in the country's Aleppo Province, where the attack took place earlier this week.
On Sunday, a guided missile was launched from Tel Rifaat by the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), killing two Turkish police officers and wounding two others, according to Ankara.
Erdogan’s threat came as two unknown Turkish officials also said Ankara is preparing for possible further military action against the YPG in northern Syria if talks on the issue with the United States and Russia fail.
"It is essential that the areas, notably the Tel Rifaat region from which attacks are constantly carried out against us, are cleansed," one senior official was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The official added that the military and national intelligence agency MIT were making preparations, without providing any details about the time and nature of the Turkish military action.
"The decision for this has been taken and the necessary coordination will be done with particular countries. This subject will be discussed with Russia and the United States," he stressed.
The officials said Erdogan would discuss the issue with US President Joe Biden at a G20 summit of the world's major economies in Rome at the end of October.
Another Turkish official said the YPG must be pushed back at least 30 kilometers, claiming that Russia was completely in control of the areas from which recent attacks had come.
Erdogan will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the talks with Biden, the official said.
"If there is no outcome from diplomacy and the PYD does not leave these areas, an operation appears unavoidable," he said, using the abbreviation for the YPG's political wing and referring to Tel Rifaat and "several other locations.”
