Turkey warns all parties against provocation in N Syria

Turkey's defence ministry said on Friday that YPG terrorists have no authority to invite other elements into the northern Syrian town of Manbij, and warned all parties to refrain from destabilizing the region.

"We warn all parties to stay away from provocative actions and rhetoric that will make the region more unstable," the ministry said in a statement.

"The YPG/PKK terrorist organization that controls the region by force does not have the right and the authority to make a statement and invite other elements on behalf of people in the region," it added.

The ministry said it closely monitors the issue.

Its comments came a few hours after the Syrian army announced it had entered Manbij and raised the Syrian flag in the town, after the YPG urged the government of President Bashar al-Assad to protect the town from an upcoming Turkish intervention in the area.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signaled that a cross-border operation against the terrorist PYD/YPG in Syria will happen soon. Since 2016, Ankara has carried out two similar military operations in northern Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week made the surprise announcement that the U.S. would withdraw its troops from Syria. The decision followed Trump's phone call with Erdogan in which the two leaders agreed on the need for more effective coordination over the civil war-torn country.

On Monday, Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces reinforced the area around the town of Manbij, which is occupied by PKK/YPG terrorists, in preparation for the U.S. withdrawal.

In June, Ankara and Washington reached an agreement that would see the YPG ousted from the town, but Turkey has repeatedly said the United States delayed.

Washington and Ankara have now agreed to complete their agreement on Manbij by the time the United States finishes its withdrawal, Turkish foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The YPG and PYD are its Syrian extensions.