Even as the West looks back over Turkey's blighted human rights record for 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is warning the United States of pending military interventions against Kurds in northern Syria.
On Dec. 14, during his speech at an Islamic Cooperation Organization conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkish fighters will enter Manbij unless the United States removes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the area. The United States and the YPG have fought together against the Islamic State in Syria. Turkey considers the YPG to be affiliated with a terrorist group.