Turkey will not leave Syria until other countries pull out, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, adding that Ankara will continue its cross-border offensive against Kurdish fighters until they have entirely left the region, Al Jazeera reports.
Turkey launched its third military offensive into northeast Syria last month to drive the Kurdish YPG (People's Protection Units) armed group from its border and establish a "safe zone" where it aims to resettle up to two million Syrian refugees.
After seizing a 120-km (75-mile) swathe of land along the border, Turkey struck deals with the United States and Russia to keep the YPG, which Ankara labels "terrorists" due to its links with the outlawed Turkey-based PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), out of that area.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Erdogan said Turkey would only leave Syria once other countries have left as well, adding that the Turkish offensive would continue until all Kurdish forces leave the area.
"We will not let up until every last terrorist leaves the region," Erdogan said, referring to the YPG, the main component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
"We will not leave here until the other countries get out," he was cited as saying by broadcaster NTV.
