"We are ready to clear Manbij from [the Kurdish] terrorists as soon as possible," Erdogan said.
On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey had already informed the United States that it could exert efforts to make the Syrian Kurds leave Manbij.
The Syrian Kurds have been fighting against the Daesh militant group for years and has been controlling several areas of Syria, including Manbij. Ankara claims that the Syrian Kurds have links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish authorities.
On August 24, the Turkish army with the support of US-led coalition aircraft launched the Euphrates Shield operation to clear Jarabulus and the surrounding area of the Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. The operation has been widely criticized both by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus accusing Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.
