ISTANBUL: Turkey’s foreign minister has renewed warnings that his country will resume its military offensive in northeast Syria if Kurdish fighters don’t vacate the region before the end of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire Tuesday evening.
Speaking in Istanbul Monday, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “If they don’t withdraw, our operation will re-start.”
He accused Syrian Kurdish groups of 30 live-fire violations of the four-day-old truce, which killed one Turkish soldier.
He said Turkey retaliated against these attacks.
He added, however, that Kurdish fighters were complying with the U.S.-backed deal and withdrawing from areas that Turkey controls following its wide-ranging incursion, launched on Oct. 9.
Turkey has demanded that Kurdish forces withdraw from a border strip in northern Syria 30 kilometers (19 miles) deep, where it intends to resettle refugees.
(Agencies)
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