Turkey to launch cross-border operation again if Syria safe zone not cleared of terrorists - FM Çavuşoğlu

Turkey's foreign minister has said that Ankara would launch an operation in northeast Syria if the area was not cleared of what he called terrorists, Turkish media outlets reported on Monday.
"U.S., Russia have not done what is required under northeast Syria deals, Turkey-led troops will launch cross-border Syria offensive if Syria safe zone is not cleared of [YPG] terrorists," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told the members of Turkish parliament's planning and budget committee.

Çavuşoğlu recalled Turkey's recent anti-terror operations in northern Syria.

"If we do not achieve any result, as we had started the operation [before],...,we will do whatever is necessary [in the northern Syria]," said Çavuşoğlu.

Çavuşoğlu noted that Turkey has no other solution beside clearing the region of all terror groups.

"We should definitely clear of the terror threat just next to us [in northern Syria]," he added.

Turkey on Oct. 9 launched Operation Peace Spring in order to secure Turkey's borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria's territorial integrity by kicking YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists out of the northern region of war-torn Syria.

Ankara wants YPG/PKK terrorists to withdraw from the region so that a safe zone can be created to pave the way for the safe return of some 2 million refugees.

On Oct. 22, Ankara and Moscow reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists would pull back 30 km (18.6 mi) south of Turkey's border with Syria, 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 EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

"There was a man, his name is [Ismail] al-Ithawi. We captured him, and handed him to Iraq," said Çavuşoğlu.

Al-Ithawi had held several top positions in Daesh, including being assistant to slain ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In February 2018, the Turkish authorities arrested al-Ithawi, also known as Abu Zeid al-Iraqi, and handed him to the Iraqi authorities. A criminal court in the Karkh district of Baghdad sentenced him to death in September 2018.

"He [al-Ithawi] had shown the hideout of Baghdadi," Çavuşoğlu said.

Baghdadi had blown himself up during an Oct. 26 raid by U.S. forces in Idlib, Syria.