Erdogan: Turkey to expel Kurds from Manbij if no one else does
Erdogan vows that Kurdish militia members will be removed from Manbij, one way or another; Greek prime minister visits Ankara; jailed CHP legislator ends hunger strike, but Kurdish woman continues hers despite being released.
ANKARA, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned today that if Syrian Kurdish militia members are not expelled from Manbij and the Turkish-Syrian border zone, Turkey will do the job itself.
Making his weekly address to legislators of his Justice and Development Party in parliament, Erdogan expressed impatience with the United States for its perceived failure to deliver on understandings he reached in phone calls with President Donald Trump.
“We have warm conversations with Trump but, on the lower level of diplomatic and military issues, the US offers no concrete plan,” Erdogan said.
“If the terrorists in Manbij are not removed in the next few weeks, our waiting will end. We will go our own way and nothing will stop us from implementing our plans, including a sanctions list,” he said, referring to the possibility that the United States would penalize Turkey for intervening in the north-central Syrian town.
