Turkey warns US troops
Vows to retaliate against Kurdish YPG forces after seven soldiers killed in deadliest day of operation
Turkey yesterday threatened to expand its operation against Kurdish militia in Syria to the town of the Manbij and even east of the Euphrates, warning that American soldiers risked being targeted in the area if they wore enemy uniform.
Turkey on January 20 launched the "Olive Branch" operation in the northern Syrian region of Afrin, fighting Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia which Ankara sees as a terror group.
With the YPG a key ally of Washington in the battle against jihadists, the campaign has seen a fellow Nato partner of the United States fighting an openly US-backed and US-armed force.
Beyond the northwestern enclave of Afrin, the YPG also controls the key strategic town of Manbij to the east and then a long strip of territory east of the Euphrates up to the Iraqi border.
"If they (the YPG) do not withdraw from Manbij, then we will go to Manbij, we will go east of the Euphrates," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told CNN-Turk.
American troops have no presence in and around Afrin but they are present in Manbij and east of the Euphrates, where they have assisted the YPG in the fight against IS.
Bozdag emphasised that Turkey wanted no confrontation with American troops but said US soldiers risked being caught up in clashes if they appeared in uniforms of the YPG.
Turkey's Prime Minister on Saturday warned that Kurdish YPG forces will pay "twice as much" following the deaths of seven Turkish soldiers in Syria's Afrin province.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made the threat in a tweet Saturday, Turkey's state media said, which marked Turkey's deadliest day in its military operation dubbed "Operation Olive Branch" in northern Syria.
Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron's office said yesterday France and Turkey will be working in the coming weeks on a "diplomatic road map" for an end to the nearly seven-year war in Syria.
The announcement came after Macron spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday which discussed in particular Turkey's operation against Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Syria, reported AFP.
Macron had incensed Turkish officials last week by saying in a newspaper interview that France would have a "real problem" with the campaign if it turned out to be an "invasion operation".
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported Saturday that Erdogan had sought to reassure Macron during their talk, saying Ankara had no eye on Syrian territory.
"The two presidents agreed to work on a diplomatic road map for Syria in the coming weeks," the Elysee Palace said.