Turkey’s President: We will respond to any threat on our borders

Turkey, Washington and the European Union have all designated the PKK as a terrorist organization, Reuters said.

“We will definitely not remain silent and unresponsive to the support and arming of terror organizations next to our borders and the forming of terror islands in the region,” Hurriyet Daily News website quoted Erdogan as saying.

“We will not hesitate to use our right to self defense against formations threatening the security of our country,” Erdogan told a news conference at the G20 summit in Hamburg, according to the web site.

Erdogan expressed Turkey’s alarm at the U.S. decision to arm the YPG at a White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in May. The two men also met at the G20 summit, according to Reuters.

Syrian rebels said on Friday they were preparing to join the Turkish military in a major new offensive against Kurdish forces in northwestern Syria, raising the prospect of yet another front in an increasingly complex conflict, Reuters also reported.

Turkish officials have not commented on any military preparations in northern Syria. Turkish troops launched an incursion across the border last August in support of Syrian rebel fighters, targeting both Islamic State and the YPG, Reuters added.