Turkey reinforces troops on Syria border after Erdogan threat

ANKARA: Turkey has boosted troop numbers on its border with northern Syria, local media reported on Sunday, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a military operation in the area against a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia.

The number of Turkish military patrols on the frontier with armoured vehicles "increased" in the border town of Akcakale, the private DHA news agency said.

Nine trucks carrying armoured vehicles and a bus with military personnel on board had reached Akcakale in Sanliurfa province, state news agency Anadolu reported late on Saturday. The convoy was sent to reinforce the military units on the Syria border, the agency said, without directly linking the arrival with the operation threatened by Turkey.

Erdogan on Saturday renewed his vow to start an "air and ground" offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, viewed as a terrorist group by Ankara. He said preparations had been completed for an operation that he warned could be as soon as "today, tomorrow". Turkey has previously said plans for the offensive were in place.

Akcakale is across from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad which was captured by the YPG from the Islamic State extremist group in 2015. Kurdish authorities said in August their forces had started withdrawing from Tal Abyad.

Although the United States and Turkey agreed a deal in August to establish a buffer zone in northern Syria to keep the militia away from the Turkish border, Ankara has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the slow progress of any "safe zone".

Meanwhile, Thousands demonstrated on Sunday in a predominantly Kurdish area on the Syrian border with Turkey against threats of an offensive issued the day before by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ankara had reiterated on Saturday an oft-repeated threat to launch an "air and ground" operation in Syria against a Kurdish militia it deems a terrorist group.Erdogan has said that his country’s patience was wearing thin after Turkish and American officials agreed in August to establish a buffer zone meant to separate the Turkish border from Kurdish territories in northern Syria.

"Down with Erdogan", "Down with the occupation", chanted protestors amassed on the border near the town of Ras al-Ain, an AFP correspondent said.Protestors marched several kilometres (miles) to reach a base near Tel Arqam, held by the US-led international coalition which is allied with Kurdish-led forces against Islamic State (IS) jihadists, the correspondent added.

"We will not abandon our land and we will stay here but we do not want war," said Ahmed Mohamed Salem, a 52-year-old protestor.

Erdogan had reiterated the threat of an offensive on Saturday."We’ve made our preparations, completed our operation plans, given the necessary instructions," Erdogan said during a televised speech, adding that the offensive could start "as soon as today, tomorrow".

Kurdish authorities decried Erdogan’s comments, insisting on Saturday that the "international community (must) put pressure on Turkey to stop it from carrying out any aggression".

In the areas of Ras al-Ain, Tal Abyad and Kobane, all bordering Turkey, local forces have dug trenches and tunnels in preparation for a Turkish offensive, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Sunday.

In mid September, the US-led coalition had said that "good progress" was being made in implementing the buffer zone.

The zone was agreed in August between Turkey and the US, and it involves creating a buffer between the Turkish border and Syrian areas controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, considered a "terrorist" offshoot of Kurdish insurgents in Turkey by Ankara.