Erdoğan once again hints at Syria offensive, warns Sweden, Finland

Photo: AA

President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again hinted at a cross-border military offensive in the Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.

"We will continue our fight against terrorism. Our decision to establish a 30-kilometer-deep secure line along our southern border is permanent," Erdoğan told diplomats at the 13th Ambassadors Conference yesterday (August 8) in the capital, Ankara.

"I hope we will join the parts of this security zone together soon by clearing the last areas where the terrorist organization is nesting in Syria," he added.

For over two months, Erdoğan has been saying that a new military offensive is imminent.

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out four major military operations in Syria, with two of them — the 2018 Afrin offensive and the 2019 "Operation Peace Spring" — being in Kurdish-controlled areas.

Sweden and Finland's NATO bids

Erdoğan also touched on the NATO membership bids of Sweden and Finland, saying that Türkiye "will not take a positive attitude" unless they meet their promises on the "fight against terrorism."

"We maintain a firm position on Finland and Sweden. The NATO membership of these two countries will not be approved until the promises made to our country are fulfilled," he said.

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But Türkiye voiced objections to the bids, accusing the two countries of tolerating and providing shelter to "terrorists."

A trilateral agreement signed among the countries in June stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the Kurdish groups Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Türkiye views as the Syrian extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The two countries also promised not to support the "Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)," the Islamic group held responsible for the 2016 coup attempt. (VK)