Turkey has warned Damascus of its "Euphrates Shield" military campaign in northern Syria through Russian channels, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.
"All stakeholders have been informed about the start of the ‘Euphrates Shield’ operations, including Damascus, which was informed by Russia, we are confident," Kurtulmus said at a briefing in Ankara.
"We are not going to become a regular force in Syria. Turkey is not an occupier: we are not entering a war and are not becoming part of the military conflict. But if the threat to our security remains in the region, we will not stand idly by," Kurtulmus said.
The deputy prime minister reiterated Ankara’s aim of "clearing the region" from the Daesh and "preventing the Syrian Kurds’ self-defense forces to build a corridor" between their self-controlled territories.
"If that happens – Syria will be divided," Sputnik cited Kurtulmus as saying.
