DAMASCUS, Oct 11 (NNN-SANA) – Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, blamed the Kurdish forces for the ongoing Turkish offensive in northern Syria.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday evening, Mekdad said, the Kurdish forces in northern and northeastern Syria had refused attempts to resolve the situation in the Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.
He also mentioned the situation in Afrin, a northern Syrian enclave that fell into the hands of the Turkey-backed rebels, following a Turkish offensive in early 2018, after the Kurdish forces refused to hand over the area to the Syrian army.
Meanwhile, Mekdad reaffirmed the stance that the Syrian government will confront all foreign invaders.
“We stress again that the Syrian army is fighting the terrorist groups across Syria and will fight against invading foreign forces that exist illegally on Syrian soil and we are on full readiness to confront all challenges facing Syria,” he said.
On Wednesday, Turkey started a military campaign in northern Syria to eliminate the Kurdish forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces and its umbrella of the People’s Protection Units, which are both deemed by Ankara as separatists and terrorists.
The Turkish operation started, after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from northern Syria, which was seen as a sign of abandoning the Kurdish forces, which used to be Washington’s allies in fighting the Daesh in Syria.– NNN-SANA