Turkey to continue involvement in Syria, Iraq: Erdogan

By Enes Kaplan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey will continue its involvement in Syria and Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

"We will always be involved in all developments in Syria and Iraq. We are determined to stand by our brothers and sisters, who are fighting against terrorist organizations, through our diplomatic and military might if necessary,” Erdogan said at a meeting with mukhtars (village and neighborhood administrators) at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey would not allow Iraq to be drawn into a sectarian war.

As military operations to retake the country's northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh began last week, some have voiced concern for the possible consequence of a sectarian conflict in the region.

They have voiced warnings against the direct involvement of Shia militias in liberating the city following allegations that such groups have committed atrocities against the Sunni population in other parts of Iraq.

"We cannot leave our brothers and sisters alone in Mosul and Kirkuk," Erdogan said.

He reiterated that Turkey had never made any demands about taking any territory from Mosul.

"We have no eyes on any other country's territory. On the contrary, we are against anyone who has eyes on those countries where our brothers and sisters live, and who want to lead them to new conflicts based on ethnic and sectarian differences," he said.

Erdogan also repeated Turkey's warning that it would dislodge the PYD/PKK from Manbij should the terrorist group not leave the northwestern Syrian district as promised.

"We are determined to clear PYD from Manbij as soon as possible," he said, adding that if the terrorist group did not withdraw east of the Euphrates River, Turkey "will do the necessary."

The PYD/PKK has been enlarging its dominance west of the Euphrates River since last December and reinforcing its presence in the region in the fight against Daesh.

The group has enlarged its borders through the northern parts of Manbij -- located in the northwestern Aleppo province -- after the city was cleared of Daesh militants with the support of Arab fighters and U.S airstrikes over the summer.

On October 21, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said Ankara was waiting for the PKK/PYD to withdraw east of the Euphrates River.

The PKK and its Syrian offshoot the PYD are both listed as terrorist groups by Turkey although the U.S. and the EU only view the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Turkey launched the Operation Euphrates Shield in August to rid the north Syrian border area of terrorists. The campaign has seen both Daesh and the PKK/PYD targeted by the Free Syrian Army and Turkish tanks, artillery and aircraft.