“Just as Afrin was cleared of the YPG/PYD terror organization, now Tal Rifaat will be cleared,” Bekir Bozdag told news channel Haberturk on Thursday.
Tal Rifaat is a town in the northern Aleppo countryside with a population of around 25,000. It has been overwhelmed by an influx of people displaced from Afrin. An estimated 130,000 IDPs are in Tal Rifaat, Nubul, and Zahra, according to ICRC - Syria.
In eastern Aleppo, Turkey and its proxy fighters control a pocket around al-Bab, which separates the mostly-Kurdish IDPs and the YPG from Manbij, a city liberated by the Kurdish fighters and the US-led coalition from ISIS in 2016. The United States and other coalition members have a military presence in Manbij.
“Manbij [Syria] will be next, and it will be followed by the east of the Euphrates,” Bozdag said.
Ankara claims Washington has reneged on an agreement to remove YPG from Manbij. Turkey considers the YPG to be the Syrian extension of the terror-listed PKK. An allegation denied by both Kurdish groups who say they just have a shared ideology, but no organic links.
The US-led coalition has supported the mostly YPG Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against ISIS. They have also supported the establishment of military and civil councils in northern Syria.
A Kurdish SDF commander, Haval Dilyar Sozdar, told Rudaw in Manbij on Thursday that Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield forces "attack us with heavy artillery and target villagers and destroy their houses. Sometimes children are injured and villagers are left in poor conditions."
An Arab deputy commander of Manbij Military Council, Abu Ali Najim, told Rudaw that the Turkish-backed forces brought in "some new forces, of course, with new artillery."
Turkey regularly conducts airstrikes in northern parts of the Kurdistan Region where the PKK has its headquarters in Qandil. There was also a PKK presence in Shingal, 210 kilometers southwest of Qandil. The PKK protected the Yezidi minority group from ISIS and was paid by Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced in March that foreign fighters like the PKK would leave the country, and any of their local affiliates like the Shingal Protection Units/Women’s Protection Units (YBS/YPJ) would be absorbed into Iraq’s security apparatus.
“We really want Shingal and other places to be cleared of the terror group and terrorists,” Bozdag reiterated.
Turkey has a military presence in Bashiqa, located 133 kilometers east of Shingal.
“We have no problem when it is done, but if not, then Turkey has the power and ability to clear out these terrorists,” he said.
Iraqi President Fuad Masum says his country is fearful of an Afrin operation being repeated in Shingal, and the Turkish military needs to withdraw from Bashiqa now that the war on ISIS has come to an end.
Turkey bombed several villages in the Kurdistan Region in March in what it described as anti-PKK operations. Four young men were killed during the Kurdish Newroz holiday, as their families claimed they were not PKK members.
KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani was asked about Turkey bombing the villages.
“As the Kurdistan Region, we have a principle. Our principle is that the territories of the Kurdistan Region must in no way be used to attack, to cause violence against our neighbors. This policy as a principle stands the same for Turkey, Iran or Syria.”
An Arab deputy commander of Manbij Military Council, Abu Ali Najim, told Rudaw that the Turkish-backed forces brought in "some new forces, of course, with new artillery."
Turkey regularly conducts airstrikes in northern parts of the Kurdistan Region where the PKK has its headquarters in Qandil. There was also a PKK presence in Shingal, 210 kilometers southwest of Qandil. The PKK protected the Yezidi minority group from ISIS and was paid by Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced in March that foreign fighters like the PKK would leave the country, and any of their local affiliates like the Shingal Protection Units/Women’s Protection Units (YBS/YPJ) would be absorbed into Iraq’s security apparatus.
“We really want Shingal and other places to be cleared of the terror group and terrorists,” Bozdag reiterated.
Turkey has a military presence in Bashiqa, located 133 kilometers east of Shingal.
“We have no problem when it is done, but if not, then Turkey has the power and ability to clear out these terrorists,” he said.
Iraqi President Fuad Masum says his country is fearful of an Afrin operation being repeated in Shingal, and the Turkish military needs to withdraw from Bashiqa now that the war on ISIS has come to an end.
Turkey bombed several villages in the Kurdistan Region in March in what it described as anti-PKK operations. Four young men were killed during the Kurdish Newroz holiday, as their families claimed they were not PKK members.
KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani was asked about Turkey bombing the villages.
“There is a reason why this is happening. That reason must first be resolved. So long as this reason is not resolved, you cannot talk about the fallout," he said during a March 28 press conference in Erbil.
“As the Kurdistan Region, we have a principle. Our principle is that the territories of the Kurdistan Region must in no way be used to attack, to cause violence against our neighbors. This policy as a principle stands the same for Turkey, Iran or Syria.”
Last updated at 8:07 p.m.
