Turkey's operation in Syria's Afrin is imminent, says Erdoğan

Turkey is ready “at any moment” to start an operation in a besieged border area of Syria, said the president on Monday.

“The Turkish Armed Forces will resolve the Afrin and Manbij issue as soon as possible. Our preparations are finalized, an operation may start at any moment,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told an opening ceremony in the capital, Ankara.

Turkish military units are already deployed in Afrin, a district of Aleppo near the Turkish-Syria border, one under siege by the PKK/PYD terrorist organization.

The PKK/PYD is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU.

An Afrin operation would follow Turkey's successful seven-month Operation Euphrates Shield, which ended in March 2017.

On the just-announced U.S. plan to form a border army led by the terrorist PKK/PYD, Erdoğan said: “The U.S. has admitted to forming a terrorist army along the Turkish border," vowing that Turkey would kill that army before it is born.

Turkey has long protested U.S. support for the PKK/PYD, while Washington has brushed off these criticisms, saying it needs the terror group’s help to fight Daesh in Syria.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, the PKK has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 security forces and civilians -- including more than 1,200 since July 2015.