Turkey’s foreign minister has renewed warnings that his country will resume its military offensive in Syria if Kurdish fighters do not vacate the region before the end of a US-brokered cease-fire.
Speaking in Istanbul on 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 US-backed deal and withdrawing from areas that Turkey controls following its wide-ranging incursion, launched on October 9.
Turkey has demanded that Kurdish forces withdraw from a border strip in northern Syria 19 miles deep, where it intends to resettle refugees.
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