Konflikten i Syrien

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey will not hesitate to eliminate any threat emanating from the strategic Afrin pocket, the northwestern Syrian region neighboring Hakkari province to the west and Kilis to the north, by PKK/PYD terrorism which looks to create a corridor to the Mediterranean. Speaking to reporters late on Monday on his way back from an official visit to Amman, Jordan, Erdoğan said there was no equivocation among Turkish authorities to take action if there was any chance the PKK's Syrian wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) emerged as the dominant factor in Afrin.

"In Afrin, there are Kurds sympathetic to Turkey and there are Kurds supporting the PYD. It pains me to use the word 'Kurds' because Turkey has no problems whatsoever with our Kurdish brothers. Just as we do not approve of the attitude of seeing all Kurds as supporters of the PKK, we do not approve of people who see all Kurds in Afrin as supporters of the PYD." The PYD and its armed-wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), have been receiving significant weapons support from Turkey's NATO ally the U.S. despite Ankara's repeated admonishments. The PKK has been recognized by the U.S. and the EU as a terrorist group.