Turkish President Erdogan speaks during the Turkish Defense Industry Summit in Ankara (Reuters)
Turkey will launch a new military operation in Syria within days against a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers a "terrorist group", Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
"We will start an operation to free the east of the Euphrates from the separatist terrorist organisation in the next few days," Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara, referring to territory held by the Kurdish People's Protection Units, known as the YPG.
Turkey says the YPG is a "terrorist offshoot" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.
American forces have worked closely with the YPG under the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance against the Islamic State (IS) group.
The target is never American soldiers but terrorist organisation members active in the region
– Recep Tayyip Erdogan
"The target is never American soldiers but terrorist organisation members active in the region," Erdogan told the audience at a defence industry summit.
There are American forces with the SDF east of the Euphrates as well as in the flashpoint city of Manbij, which is west of the river.
Erdogan's comments came a day after the Pentagon announced the setting up of US observation posts on the northeast Syria border region intended to prevent altercations between the Turkish army and the YPG, despite calls from Ankara not to go ahead with the move.
Washington's relationship with the YPG, seen as a key ally, is one of the main sources of tensions between Turkey and the United States.
Ankara has repeatedly lambasted Washington for providing military support to the Kurdish militia.
Erdogan has previously threatened to attack areas held by the YPG. In a bid to avoid any clash, the NATO allies agreed a "roadmap" for Manbij in June.
Erdogan claimed Turkey was not being protected from terrorists but "terrorists were being protected" from possible action by Turkey, he said.
Turkey has previously launched two operations in northern Syria. The first offensive began in August 2016 with Turkish forces supporting Syrian opposition fighters against IS and was completed by March 2017.
Then in January 2018, Turkish military forces backed Syrian rebels to clear the YPG from its northwestern enclave of Afrin.
In March, the operation was completed with the capture of Afrin city.
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