Erdogan announces military operations in Syria's Manbij, Tal Rifaat
The Turkish president said operations in northern Syria will expand "step by step" and that Ankara will keep an eye on “who supports these legitimate steps" and "who hinders them.”
Turkey will clear the Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas of terrorists in a new operation in northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, naming specific targets in a cross-border operation for the first time.
"We are going into a new phase of our determination to form a 30-kilometer (20-mile) deep safe zone along our southern border. We will cleanse Tal Rifaat and Manbij of terrorists and we will do the same to other regions step by step," the president told the lawmakers of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
![Smoke billows from the Babasi oil facility in the countryside of al-Qahtaniya in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province on October 6, 2023 following a Turkish strike. (Photo by Delil souleiman / AFP) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Delil souleiman has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [BABASI] instead of [BASBASI]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your serve](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-10/GettyImages-1709016702.jpg?h=8f404aa9&itok=3DbBgJnW)
