Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his ruling party legislators in Parliament, in Ankara on Wednesday. Erdogan said Turkey would not hesitate to relaunch its operation if the Syrian Kurdish fighters do not fully evacuate the 30 kilometer area in northeastern Syria or continue attacks against Turkish troops. Photo: AFP
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States and Russia on Thursday of failing to fulfill their part of a deal for Kurdish militia to leave a Syrian region bordering Turkey, and said he would raise this with President Donald Trump next week.
Turkey launched an offensive across its border with Syrian rebels a month ago, seeking to push out Kurdish YPG fighters it sees as a threat to its security. After seizing control of a 120-kilometer swathe of territory, Ankara reached a deal with the US to keep the Kurdish militia out of that area.
Erdogan is set to discuss implementation in talks with Trump in Washington on November 13. Turkish officials confirmed on Wednesday that the visit would go ahead.
"While we hold these talks, those who promised us that the YPG... would withdraw from here within 120 hours have not achieved this," Erdogan said ahead of a visit to Hungary.
Turkish officials said earlier this week that Erdogan might call off the US visit in protest at votes in the US House of Representatives to recognize mass killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide and to seek sanctions on Turkey.