Ankara,Turkey The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces has developed a plan for anti-terrorist operations in the region, directed against possible attacks by Kurdish armed groups from Syria and Iraq, Anadolu news agency reported.
Negotiations of US Presidents Donald Trump and Tayyip Erdogan were held in Washington on Tuesday amid the contradictions aggravated between the two countries in connection with the recent decision of the US President to arm Syrian Kurds, who are fighting against the terrorist group Islamic state banned in Russia.
Turkey’s official position is that the Kurdish formations (YPG and PYD) in Syria are linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) banned in Turkey, which both Ankara and Washington consider terrorist.
Erdogan said after the talks with Trump, Ankara reserves the right to unilaterally take retaliatory measures against the self-defense forces of the Syrian Kurds in case of an attack from their side.
According to the military sources of the agency in Ankara, the plan includes a decisive rebuff to any attacks by the militants of the offshoots of the terrorist organization PKK (YPG and PYD) in Syria and Iraq.
Military bases, which are intended to be used within the framework of the plan of the General Staff of Turkey, have been completed for operations in neighboring countries. Warehouses with weapons and ammunition have been replenished, additional military equipment has been massed in the border areas.
In addition, to the agency reports, detachments of the opposition Syrian Liberation Army after the operation of the Turkish army “Shield Euphrates” are involved in a program of intensive military training, organized with the support of the Turkish Armed Forces.
The program was launched on March 29, 2017 in training camps set up near the Syrian-Turkish border. Participants in the program are taught the skills of operating various types of weapons. Ankara believes that the liberation of Jarablus will help clear the Turkish borders from terrorist groups and support the territorial integrity of Syria.