![\"_90923108_syria_turkey_kurds_v7_624\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/90923108_syria_turkey_kurds_v7_624.png\")
<\/p>\nTurkey has threatened further intervention in northern Syria unless Kurdish-led forces fully withdraw east of the River Euphrates within a week.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Turkish forces helped Syrian rebels take the border town of Jarablus from so-called Islamic State.<\/p>\n
Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday the operation had two goals – to secure the border area and ensure the Kurds “are not there”.<\/p>\n
Ankara fears Kurdish gains in Syria will fuel an insurgency at home.<\/p>\n
As Mr Isik spoke, a column of some 10 Turkish tanks and a similar number of armoured vehicles reportedly crossed the border near Jarablus.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear if the deployment was aimed at securing the town or helping members of the rebel Free Syrian Army push further into IS-held territory.<\/p>\n
Rebel commanders said they had advanced up to 10km (6 miles) south of Jarablus and 10km westwards along the Turkish frontier.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Later in the day, the Turkish military shelled a group of Syrian Kurdish fighters near Manbij, south of Jarablus, Turkish media said.<\/p>\n
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance dominated by the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia, had moved north from positions near Manbij, which they recently captured from IS.<\/p>\n
A rebel source told the Reuters news agency that the two sides had clashed at the village of al-Amarna, on the western bank of the Euphrates, on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
During a visit to Ankara on Wednesday, US Vice-President Joe Biden said Washington had warned the SDF not to move west of the Euphrates or risk losing American support.<\/p>\n
![\"_90920554_583b0ae7-cfdb-410a-a4c4-9b985e756c9d\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/90920554_583b0ae7-cfdb-410a-a4c4-9b985e756c9d.jpg\")
![\"_90921189_mediaitem90921188\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/90921189_mediaitem90921188.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mr Isik told NTV television: “If this withdrawal doesn’t happen, Turkey has every right to intervene.”<\/p>\n
Earlier, a spokesman for the US-led coalition against IS tweeted that SDF fighters had moved east across the Euphrates from Manbij to prepare for “the eventual liberation” of the IS stronghold of Raqqa.<\/p>\n
Col John Dorrian subsequently issued a clarification, which said: “Main element of SDF Manbij liberation force has gone east; some forces remain to finish clearing, IED [Improvised Explosive Device] removal as planned.”<\/p>\n
![\"_90921191_mediaitem90921190\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/90921191_mediaitem90921190.jpg\")
![\"_90921193_mediaitem90921192\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/90921193_mediaitem90921192.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The YPG meanwhile said in a statement that the SDF had handed over military command in Manbij and all of its positions in the town to the local Manbij Military Council.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Mark Lowen, who is on the Turkish-Syrian border, says that getting the US to demand the SDF withdraw was a major diplomatic victory for Turkey, which has long felt that the Americans have prioritised collaboration with the Kurds in Syria over supporting their Nato ally.<\/p>\n
The SDF has been the most effective opponent of IS on the ground in Syria and its fighters control an uninterrupted 400km stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border, from Iraq to the Euphrates, as well as an enclave around Afrin.<\/p>\n
However, Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy since the 1980s.<\/p>\n
In a separate development on Thursday, a convoy carrying opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu was attacked in north-eastern Turkey.<\/p>\n
The interior minister said three soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire with the assailants, who he identified as PKK rebels. Later, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported that one of the soldiers had died of his wounds.<\/p>\n
Mr Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) said he was safe and well.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkey has threatened further intervention in northern Syria unless Kurdish-led forces fully withdraw east of the River Euphrates within a week. On Wednesday, Turkish forces helped Syrian rebels take the border town of Jarablus from so-called Islamic State. Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday the operation had two goals – to secure the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":243047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n