President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his readiness to act alone in northeast Syria and retake areas from American-backed Kurdish forces, saying that efforts to defuse the threat they pose to Türkiye have failed. “We may suddenly arrive one night,” Erdogan told reporters after a speech to parliament in Ankara on Tuesday, referring to a possible cross-border offensive in northeast Syria. “We have tried every means, with great patience, to solve this problem together with our allies.”
Erdogan spoke a day after Türkiye vowed to take further steps to protect its national security and create a buffer zone inside Syria by pushing back Kurdish militia to enable the return of Syrian refugees. Türkiye suspects the U.S. backs Kurdish aspirations for self-rule in Syria and is getting ready to use its military to prevent an attempt to redraw the region’s map. “Türkiye doesn’t have a single day left to lose on this issue,” Erdogan said.
Türkiye’s president has repeatedly called on the U.S. to act together in expanding a previously negotiated security zone in Syria -- designed to be off-limits to American-backed Kurdish YPG forces -- while threatening an incursion if he doesn’t get his way by the end of last month. The latest remarks on Tuesday threaten to inflame lingering tensions with Washington, which has warned against a unilateral operation against the Kurdish group, regarded by Türkiye as a threat to its territorial integrity.