Erdoğan: Manbij next target to clear out terrorists

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that Turkey's next target in Syria is taking the Syrian cities of Manbij and Raqqa, which are under the control of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party (PYD) and People's Protection Units (YPG) and Daesh terrorist organization, respectively.

TVNET News Manager Serhat İbrahimoğlu reported that Erdoğan reiterated Turkey's determinism to not allow any terrorist formation along its border while Erdoğan was returning from Pakistan where he attended the 13th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit.

"We are about to succeed in al-Bab. Before al-Bab, we cleared Jarablous and al-Rai from the terrorists and determinedly supported the Free Syrian Army [FSA]," he said.

“Turkey's new target in Syria is Manbij as soon as we conclude the operation in al-Bab," he said.

“Both Manbij and Raqqa belong to Arabs. In Raqqa, it is estimated that there are around 2,500 Daesh terrorists who should immediately be cleared from the city. We are still conducting talks about the operation with U.S. officials for the Syrian Defense Force [SDF] to not be in Raqqa,'' he said.

He also said that Washington cannot express any determinism about its counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East, urging the United States to take a move to clear Daesh terrorists from Raqqa without the contribution of any other terrorist organization.

''Their chief of staff and the new head of the CIA paid a visit to Turkey and we also told them that the SDF must be excluded from the Raqqa operation. It is impossible that Turkey accept the presence of armed terrorists along its borders,'' Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan said that Turkey may cooperate with Russia to exclude the SDF from the process.

Ankara has been expressing its frustrations regarding U.S. support of the PYD and YPG as well as the SDF, all of which fight against Daesh.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU. Since Turkey considers the PYD to be a PKK affiliate, Ankara says Washington should not cooperate with it.

Previously, Turkish military sources verified that the U.S. did not conduct airstrikes in support of Operation Euphrates Shield in al-Bab. The postponement of the Raqqa operation provided an advantage to Daesh terrorists over Turkish soldiers.

The U.S. postponed the Raqqa operation and also suspended the Mosul operation, which was being conducted with the support from the YPG.

The counter-Daesh coalition is made up of 13 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.

However, all of these countries have been inactive against Daesh since the Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield with FSA forces on Aug. 24, 2016.

Erdoğan also touched on the Turkey's fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which was responsible for the July 15 coup attempt that targeted the democratically elected government. He cited reports saying FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen may move to Canada from the U.S.

“We don't know if Canada accepts him or not, but our efforts continue for the immediate extradition of Gülen," he said.

Previously, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said his country has "serious" intelligence suggesting that a U.S.-based cleric wanted by Turkey may be planning to move to Canada.

Kurtulmuş said that intelligence gathered by Turkey indicated that followers of Gülen had purchased "land and farms" in Canada.

Erdoğan, touching on the constitutional change referendum, said that rejecting it would trigger PKK terrorist activities, citing the trench warfare of 2015.

“PKK terrorists have killed tens of thousands of people so far. And they say 'no' to the constitutional change. Rejecting the change will serve the terrorists," Erdoğan said.

A shift from the parliamentary to a presidential system has been on the political agenda since Erdoğan, the former prime minister and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) chairman, was elected president in August 2014.

Under the current parliamentary model, the people vote for the 550 members of Parliament. The government is formed by a minimum 276 lawmakers.

In the proposed presidential system, the electorate would vote for a president to form a government independently of Parliament, with no need of a vote of confidence.

Erdoğan also dismissed Western criticism of Turkey, saying that Turkey will do whatever is necessary against terrorists.

“[Parliament] was bombed by the terrorists. The presidential complex was bombed. Instead of criticizing the state of emergency in Turkey, Western countries should criticize France," he said.

Erdoğan has been harshly criticizing Western countries, which he said should take into consideration the situation in the country.

“Around 250 people were martyred on the night of the bloody coup attempt. We will extend the state of emergency as many times as we find necessary. France extended its state of emergency three times up to now. This kind of a decision can be taken by the Turkish Parliament, not by any European country or others. You all get off my case," Erdoğan had said previously.

Erdoğan has harshly criticized the Hurriyet daily for its headline, "Headquarters disturbed", which he said contributes to support for military coups with controversial headlines in recent history. The article reported on alleged disturbances in the Turkish military concerning the government's practices following the new rule that allows female officers and non-commissioned officers to wear a headscarves.

"I have already said that that was an immoral title. A judicial process has started for the headline of the newspaper on the demand of a citizen," Erdoğan said.

The newspaper's headline came after a ban on wearing headscarves for female personnel serving in the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) was lifted last week.