Erdogan: Turkey will crush Kurdish militants who remain in the Syria 'safe zone”
(VOVWORLD) - Turkey will use its right to crush Kurdish militia fighters if they do not withdraw from the “safe zone” in northern Syria as per the truce agreement with the US, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.
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 Turkish soldiers in military vehicles return from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, as they are pictured on the Turkish-Syrian border in Akcakale, Turkey, October 24, 2019
(Photo: REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir)
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Erdogan said Turkey will resume its offensive if the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia does not withdraw from the border.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that five Turkish soldiers were wounded in the Syrian border town of Ra's al-Ayn in an attack carried out by YPG militants. The attack was conducted using drones, mortars, and light weapons, the Ministry said. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accused Turkey on Thursday of launching a large land offensive targeting three villages in northeast Syria despite the truce.
On Tuesday, Russia and Turkey signed a joint memorandum agreeing to deploy joint forces in the zone of the Turkish operation in Syria.
Turkey on Thursday rejected a resolution by the European Parliament censuring the Turkish operation in northern Syria.