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Kurdish leaders scrabble for footing as Ankara pounds war drums

Turkey says it has completed preparations to intervene in Syria's Manbij and the Kurdish-controlled area east of the Euphrates River.
Turkish soldiers stand next to a tank near the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkey January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC15B613B1F0

The Turkish military has completed its preparations to intervene in Manbij, the mainly Arab town in northern Syria that is emblematic of continued friction with the United States, as well as east of the Euphrates River, where Washington’s Kurdish allies govern a stretch of territory running all the way to Iraq. “When the time comes, the necessary measures will be taken," said Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar during a visit to a military facility in the central Anatolian province of Eskisehir today.

The comments are the latest in a volley of Turkish vows to take action against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Washington’s top ally in the fight against the Islamic State, and to establish a safe zone 20 miles (32 kilometers) deep along its southern border with Syria. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the zone would allow the four million or so Syrians sheltering in Turkey to go back home and rid the area of "terrorists," as Turkey labels the YPG.

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