Following a closed-door meeting of the AKP’s central executive board that lasted almost 90 minutes, Celik said Turkey’s cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria had successfully intervened before such statelets could be formed.

Turkey continues to clash with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and has launched two major cross-border operations against Kurdish-led forces in Syria, entering the northwestern city of Afrin in January 2018 and the northeastern Tal Abyad region in October 2019.

The latter specifically targeted the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a collection of militias that inflicted the territorial defeat on the Islamic State (ISIS) in March 2019 with support of the U.S. -led international coalition.

On Tuesday, Turkey’s parliament once again authorized the government to launch future cross-border operations into Iraq and Syria for another two years.

The move comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to take additional military action against the Kurdish fighters in northwest Syria following a rocket attack that killed two Turkish special operations police officers in the region earlier this month.

The presence of Russian and U.S. troops throughout northern Syria means Ankara would likely need Washington or Moscow’s acquiescence before launching a new cross-border offensive.

Reporter's code: 50101