29 Mar 2024
Thursday 18 January 2018 - 17:07
Story Code : 290515

Syrian Air Defense ready to destroy Turkish aviation if they attack - Deputy FM



Sputnik- Turkey threatens to start a military operation in Syria's Afrin amid reports of the country's shelling the areas.



"We warn the Turkish leadership that if they initiate combat operations inthe Afrin area, that will be considered an act ofaggression bythe Turkish army," deputy foreign minister Faisal Meqdad told reporters.


The statement was made afterTurkish Foreign MinisterMevlut Cavusoglu's statement made earlier inthe day, saying that Ankara would intervene inSyria's Afrin and Manbij, citing the threat posed bythe Kurdish militants tothe integrity ofthe Syrian border.

Meanwhile, theTurkey'sGeneral Staffhas reportedly put the troops onthe border withSyria onhigh alert,preparing fora possible operation inSyrian Afrin againstthe armed formations ofthe Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, associated withthe banned inthe country Kurdistan Workers Party.

Turkey has been threatening tobegin an operation againstinAfrin aftertheUS-led coalition's announcement concerning the training ofa border protection force composed ofthe KurdishSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which mostly consists ofthe YPG, innorthern Syria.

Recently there occurred media reports claiming that the Turkish armed forces shelledterritory undercontrolofthe Kurdish forces inAfrin, butthere was no official confirmation tothis information.

As US-led coalition's Col. Thomas Veale has explained, the SDFtraining aimed tocreate a30,000-strong forcetomaintain security alongSyria's borders, prompting harsh condemnation fromDamascusand Ankara.

TheUSMilitary Presence inSyria

A position, similar totheMeqdad's one has been voiced regarding the US presence onthe Syrian soul bya source inthe Syrian Foreign Ministry, asquoted bythe state-run SANA news agency onJanuary 18, who said that the internal affairs ofany country should be managed bythe people ofthat country.
"The internal affairs inany country inthe world is an exclusive right ofthe people ofthat country, thus nobody has the right toonly give his opinion inthat because this violates the international law and contradicts the most important theories ofthe constitutional law," the source said, adding that the US presence and all ofWashingtons activities inSyria aim toprotect Daesh.





The comment was made afterUS State Secretary Rex Tillerson's statement, made onJanuary 17, saying that the United States would continue maintaining its military presence inSyria toprevent the re-emergence ofthe Daesh terrorist group (banned inRussia), and called onUS allies toincrease economic pressure onSyrian President Bashar Assad. According toTillerson, the US diplomatic activities inSyria will be aimed atstabilizing the situation inthe country, which does not involve open-endednation-buildingor reconstruction ofthe war-torn country, and will seek todeter Irans efforts toachieve greater influence inthe region.


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