Skip to main content
Analysis

Erdogan: Sweden, Finland need to ‘act accordingly’ toward Kurdish groups for approval on NATO bids

The Turkish president repeated these points while announcing another military operation into Syria. 

Erdogan
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves during a group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) in Ankara, on May 18, 2022. — ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan: Turkey will ‘cleanse’ Syrian towns of terrorists 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week announced "a new phase" of military operations to create a 19-mile "safe zone" into Syria "to cleanse Tal Rifaat and Manbij of terrorists."

And he may not stop there, adding that "we will do the same to other regions step by step."

Syrian Kurdish groups aligned with the United States, which Turkey considers terrorists, operate in both towns.  

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish