Turkey to 'do whatever is necessary' regarding Syria's Manbij: Erdoğan

The People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has not left Syria's Manbij, and Turkey will do what is necessary, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday.

The terrorist group has completed the construction of trenches and embankments in areas surrounding the entire city center as if it has no intention of leaving.

"They are now digging trenches in Manbij. What does this mean? It means 'we've prepared the graves, come and bury us'," Erdoğan said at a rally in southern Turkey.

"They said they would abandon the area in 90 days, but they haven't. We will do what is necessary."

The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. was inked in June this year on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region, which is in the northeast of the Aleppo province in northern Syria.

"There is no room for terrorists in Turkey's future," Erdoğan said.

Turkish security forces "cause great distress" to terrorist organizations, Erdoğan added.

Turkey pledges to launch a military operation against YPG/PKK in the strategically important city on Manbij that lies west of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, as part of Operation Olive Branch. Manbij lies northeast of Aleppo but just south of the Turkish border.

Washington has claimed the YPG is a “reliable ally” in the fight against Daesh, while Ankara has pointed to its status as an offshoot of the PKK, a recognized terrorist group which has taken some 40,000 lives in Turkey.

The YPG/PKK terror group is also in the midst of a military buildup along Manbij's border with areas liberated by Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016-2017.