Turkey is deploying reinforcements to the Syrian border following president Erdogan’s announcement of a looming military operation against the US-backed Kurdish militants, videos shared on social media and national TV show.
Military convoys were captured in dozens of photos and videos, confirming the Turkish leader’s claim that all preparations has been made and the operation to establish a so-called ‘safe zone’ on the Syrian soil long the Turkish border could be launched “as soon as today or tomorrow.”
Turkey sends nine truckloads carrying military vehicles and one bus carrying reinforcements to its border with Syria hours after President Erdogan announces his army ready to start operations against YPG terrorists pic.twitter.com/rNhldjNGWp
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 5, 2019
Additional armored vehicles and troops were sent to the border town of Akcakale, across from Tal Abyad in Syria, state television TRT confirms.
Multiple videos shared on Twitter show dozens of military vehicles and busses, allegedly full of military personnel, moving towards the border in convoys.
Helicopters are also increasingly ‘active’ in the border are airspace, according to some reports.
Şanlırfa 20. Zırhlı Tugay Komutanlığı'ndan hareket eden 10 TIR üzerindeki zırhlı araçlar ile içi asker dolu 8 otobüs Suriye sınırındaki Akçakale ilçesine sevk edildi. pic.twitter.com/IEDQBaVgWK
— Kirpi ve Kobra (@kirpivekobra) October 5, 2019
Ankara and Washington agreed earlier in August to create a ‘peace corridor’ to facilitate the return of displaced Syrians into northern Syria – until Turkey realized that joint land “land and air patrols with US were a fairytale.” Erdogan even openly suggested that Washington was after a safe zone “not for Turkey but for the terrorist group.”
Neither the US nor Turkey of course bothered to consult Damascus, which repeatedly blasted all their joint and unilateral endeavors as flagrant violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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