Turkey Is Not Worried About Sanctions and Will Continue Operations, Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Ankara is not concerned about threats of sanctions and intends to continue the "Peace Spring" cross-border operation in Syria. The president made these remarks to reporters on Tuesday while aboard his plane.

"Our goal is clear, and we are not worried about the imposition of any sanctions. The 'People's Protection Units' are rapidly losing their positions. Our task is to push the terrorists back 32 kilometers from our border (into Syria)," the Turkish president's words were quoted by TRT.

According to Erdogan, Ankara is "continuing negotiations with Russia and the United States regarding the fate of the Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobani." He does not view the entry of the Syrian government army into Manbij as an "excessively negative event."

"I do not consider the entry of (Syrian President Bashar Assad's) regime forces into Manbij to be a very bad event. Why? Because it is ultimately their territory," quoted the Hürriyet newspaper.

Erdogan emphasized the need to "clean Manbij from terrorists." "I told (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that if you cleanse Manbij from terrorist organizations, then please, either you or the regime will ensure all logistics. But if you cannot do that, then the local tribes may ask us to come and save them, because Manbij is approximately 85-90 percent populated by Arabs, not Kurds," he added.

On Monday, government forces positioned themselves in the outskirts of Manbij along the contact line with Syrian armed opposition formations, whose militants participated in the first Turkish cross-border operation, "Euphrates Shield."

Reports of clashes between Kurds and armed opposition forces were received on Tuesday from Kobani, which is held by the 'People's Protection Units.'