Türkiye is in talks with Russia to use the airspace above northern Syria for a potential cross-border operation against the Syrian Kurdish YPG, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday.
Türkiye has carried out several incursions into northern Syria against the YPG and has been threatening a new incursion for months. It stepped up preparations last month after a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul it blamed on Kurdish militants.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), spearheaded by the YPG, have denied involvement in the bombing of the busy pedestrian avenue.
Türkiye launched air strikes against YPG targets in November and President Tayyip Erdogan signaled a possible ground offensive.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Akar said Ankara was in talks with Moscow, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, about the operation.
