State Department spokeswoman asserted that Turkey must focused on ISIL , not Syria's Afrin
Tehran (KNA): The US State Department has called on Turkey not to take any military action in Syria’s northwestern region of Afrin.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Thursday urged Ankara to remain focused on fighting ISIL terrorists in the region.
Asked about reports that Turkey was making preparations to launch military strikes in Afrin, Nauert told reporters, "We would call ... on the Turks to not take any actions of that sort. ... We don't want them to engage in violence but we want them to keep focused on ISIS [Daesh]."
The comments came after Ankara said Turkish forces will intervene in Afrin to counter Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militants.
Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian branch of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier in the day that the recent statements from the United States regarding plans to create a 30,000-strong "terror army" on Syria's northern borders with Turkey were not satisfactory for the Ankara government.
The top Turkish diplomat noted that the United States must retake the weapons given to the terrorists, and completely end its cooperation with them.
However, Turkey's Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said on Thursday that his country "could never remain silent" in the face of developments that threatened its borders and security.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said that Afrin should be cleared of "terrorists," and demanded the deployment of Turkish troops there during a speech back in November 2016.
Source: Press TV