Turkey will clear the terrorists from its border area with northeast Syria if Russia does not fulfil its obligations under a bilateral accord clinched this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday.
Speaking at a meeting of football officials in Istanbul, Erdoğan again stressed the deadline set this week for YPG/PKK terrorists to pull back from northern Syria.
"If the terrorists are not cleared at the end of the 150 hours, we will take control and clean it ourselves," Erdoğan said during a televised speech in Istanbul, referring to the YPG militants.
Under the deal hammered out by Erdoğan and Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Russian military police and the pro-Assad border guards are meant to clear the YPG militants from within 30 km (19 miles) of the border.
Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian extension of the bloody-minded PKK terrorist organizaton.
On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey's borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria's territorial integrity.
On Tuesday, Ankara and Moscow reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists will pull back 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Turkey's border with Syria within 150 hours, and security forces from Turkey and Russia will mount joint patrols there.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.
