Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stressed that the United States, Russia and Turkey must coordinate fully to clear Syria of all terrorist organizations. “There is a need for strong coordination to cleanse Syria of all terrorist organizations. Many countries have presence in the region. And the region must be cleansed of Daesh (Islamic State), YPG, PYD, al Nusra (Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) and similar terrorist organizations,” said Yildirim.
Prime Minister Yildirim announced the need for close cooperation with Washington and Moscow, amid meetings held between Turkey’s military chief of staff and his US and Russian counterparts in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, where they are discussing the ongoing-situation in both Syria and Iraq. The Turkish Prime Minister stressed that the meeting’s main focus between the three military chiefs was to avoid the risk of clashing with each other in the war-torn-country.
“Therefore, if we cannot maintain this coordination, a risk of clash could emerge, even though we don’t want to. The real reason of this meeting that will continue tomorrow is to find the best way to maintain coordination and to prevent the parties from interfering in each other’s operations and avoid unintended incidents,” added Yildirim.
President Tayyip Erdogan last week said the next target of Turkey‘s Syrian operation was the border town of Manbij, which is controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. One of the militias that makeup the Syrian Democratic Forces are the Kurdish YPG militia. The United States appears to have decided to enlist the help of YPG in its campaign to push the Islamic State out of its Raqqa stronghold in Syria, a move condemned by Turkey, as Ankara views the YPG and its political affiliate, the PYD, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is waging an insurgency against the Turkish government and is internationally recognized as a terror organization. In August of last year, Turkey together with Syrian militias, launched an operation to drive the Islamic State away from its border with Syria and prevent the Kurdish YPG militia from taking territory in their wake.