ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his pledge to launch a military offensive in northern Syria, saying on Monday that his military aims to create a safe zone in the area so that the 4 million or so Syrian refugees sheltering in Turkey can return home.
Turkey wants a 32-kilometer (20-mile) zone along its southern border with Syria to push back the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militia with links to insurgents Turkey has battled for more than three decades, after the United States withdraws its forces from Syria. The YPG has fought alongside the United States against the Islamic State since 2014 and its political arm administers much of northeast Syria.
