Turkish troops are close to capturing the Islamic State-stronghold of al-Bab in northwest Syria and could move via the town of Manbij toward the group’s de facto capital in Raqqa, Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul on Saturday.
Erdogan reiterated his country’s readiness to extend its fight against the jihadist group in Raqqa if President-elect Trump agrees to prevent Kurdish forces from participating in such an operation. Turkey is concerned the Kurds’ territorial gains in Syria could lead to a new state within the country, in turn provoking separatist Kurdish aspirations at home. Kurds have established control over much of Syria’s north during five years of civil war, and in doing so, emerged as a favored U.S. fighting force in the ground war against Islamic State.
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