ANKARA, December 29. /TASS/. The Turkish heavy military equipment is being deployed to the border with Syria, Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday.
Convoys with tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles set off from the republic’s western provinces toward the border, the agency reported.
On December 12, the Turkish president reported about the intention to start an operation in the coming days against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units and the Democratic Union, which Ankara considers to be the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. Before that, Turkey already held two military operations on Syrian territory: Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch, as a result of which a buffer zone of security was created between the bordering cities of Azaz and Jarabulus and the Afrin region, which is populated by Kurds, was occupied.
On December 19, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated that the Turkish Armed Forces ended the preparations for a possible operation in Syria. However, following the decision to start the withdrawal of US forces from Syria declared by US President Donald Trump on December 19, Ankara said that Washington’s move postponed the operation.
