Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “The area extending 30 km deep along our southern borders is our security zone, and we do not want anyone to disturb us there, and we are taking steps in this regard,” adding, “We are carefully continuing work related to completing our security line on our southern borders through new operations.” ».
“We tore the terrorist corridor to be formed on our southern borders through the operations of Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, Spring of Peace, Spring Shield and Claw Lock,” he added. Last Wednesday, President Erdoğan said, in a speech to members of his Justice and Development Party bloc in the Turkish Parliament, that Turkey is moving to a new stage with its decision to establish a safe zone at a depth of 30 km in northern Syria, and to “clear the areas of Tel Rifaat and Manbij from terrorists.” .
The Special Envoy of the Russian President for the Middle East and North Africa, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, advised not to engage in making hypothetical predictions about the Turkish military operation.
This came as a comment on the new military operation that Ankara intends to carry out in northern Syria.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also expressed Moscow’s hope that Ankara would refrain from actions that could lead to a serious deterioration of the situation in Syria.
For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced his country’s opposition to any Turkish military attack on northern Syria, and warned Ankara, his country’s ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), that this would “endanger the region.”
Blinken asked “Ankara to abide by the ceasefire agreement established in 2019, after the Turkish president renewed his threats to “clear” two cities in northern Syria of Kurdish fighters.