Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey would launch an operation against US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria in the coming days.
“We have made our warnings and completed our preparations,” Erdogan said in Ankara. He accused the US of setting up observation posts in the area “not to protect our country from terrorists but to protect them from us.”
The US announced the establishment of the posts last month for the purpose of preventing ISIS terrorists from fleeing into Turkey.
Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to attack the YPG Kurdish militia operating east of the Euphrates River. The YPG has been battling ISIS with the assistance of the US.
Turkey views the YPG as a branch of the PKK movement, a pro-autonomy Kurdish movement in Turkey and Iraq which has been designated as a terrorist organization.
The Turkish Lira fell in response to Erdogan's announcement.