Going back as far as June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that his country’s military would soon begin a new ground operation in northern Syria with the express aim of defeating the predominantly-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), and forcing them out of the regions they control on the Turkey-Syria border.
Turkey says that is necessary for security reasons, after blaming a recent Istanbul bombing, as well as previous attacks, on the YPG and affiliated groups.
