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Turkish Military Proclaims Itself Ready to Move Against Kurds in Syria

Jeff Seldin

   Steve Herman at the White House, Carla Babb at the Pentagon and Nike
   Ching at the State Department contributed to this report.

   Turkish military officials say their troops are ready to launch a
   long-planned incursion into Syria to take out Kurdish forces branded by
   Ankara as terrorists, but viewed by much of the West as key partners in
   the fight against the Islamic State terror group.

   "Our glorious army is ready for Operation Safe Zone,'" the Turkish
   Armed Forces tweeted late Tuesday, promising to fight against what it
   described as Kurdish terrorists, as well as against IS, "with
   determination."

     Gücünü asil milletimizden alan TSK, PKK/PYD- YPG-SDG ve DEAŠgibi
     terör örgütleri baÅta olmak üzere her türlü tehdit ve
     tehlikeye karÅı gece gündüz, yaz kıÅ, daÄ bayır demeden azim ve
     kararlılıkla mücadelesini sürdürmektedir. Åanlı ordumuz
     Güvenli Bölge Harekâtı için hazırdır.
     ð¹ð· [1]pic.twitter.com/qK6KFcZH5X
     -- T.C. Millî Savunma BakanlıÄı (@tcsavunma) [2]October 8, 2019

   Earlier Tuesday, Turkey placed a series of rocket launchers and
   artillery along the border with Syria, while military officials said
   they would not allow the creation of what they called a terror corridor
   along the Turkish border.

   Kurdish officials charged on social media Tuesday that some of those
   mortars already were being put to use, shelling positions used by the
   U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces near Sere Kaniye, near the Turkish
   border.

   The SDF said there were no casualties and that it did not respond,
   calling the attack "unprovoked."

     The Turkish military is shelling one of our points on [3]#SereKaniye
     Border with Turkey. There were no injuries to our forces.
     We didn't respond to this unprovoked attack. We are prepared to
     defend the people and the people of NE [4]#Syria.[5]@mutludc
     [6]@mustefabali [7]@vvanwilgenburg
     -- Coordination & Military Ops Center - SDF (@cmoc_sdf) [8]October
     8, 2019

   Kurdish officials said that Turkey also carried out an airstrike
   against alleged Kurdish positions in nearby Iraq, near a border
   crossing used to resupply Kurdish forces.

   The rising tension, just days after a surprise U.S. announcement that
   it was pulling its forces back from the border area due to the upcoming
   Turkish operation, comes as U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to try
   to soothe both Turkey, a NATO ally, and the Kurds.

   Taking to Twitter, Trump insisted he was not abandoning Kurdish that
   fought with U.S. and coalition partners against IS.

   "We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we
   Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters,"
   Trump said.

   "Any unforced or unnecessary fighting by Turkey will be devastating to
   their economy and to their very fragile currency,' he added. "We are
   helping the Kurds financially/weapons!"

     ....understands that while we only had 50 soldiers remaining in that
     section of Syria, and they have been removed, any unforced or
     unnecessary fighting by Turkey will be devastating to their economy
     and to their very fragile currency. We are helping the Kurds
     financially/weapons!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [9]October 8, 2019

   In a separate set of tweets, the president also praised Turkey,
   inviting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit the White
   House on Nov. 13, while calling Ankara a "big trading partner" and
   crediting the Turkish government with "helping me to save many lives at
   Idlib Province."

References

   1. https://t.co/qK6KFcZH5X
   2. https://twitter.com/tcsavunma/status/1181638603358834693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/SereKaniye?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://twitter.com/mutludc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://twitter.com/mustefabali?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   7. https://twitter.com/vvanwilgenburg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   8. https://twitter.com/cmoc_sdf/status/1181633067783311361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   9. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181553636444426240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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