Turkey will take steps in Syrian border region if demands not met: Deputy PM

Thomson Reuters

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will not hesitate to take steps in Afrin and other regions across its border with Syria to ensure its national security if its demands are not met, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting, Bozdag, who is also government spokesman, said the formation of a "terror corridor and terrorist army" along Turkey's borders posed a security threat and Ankara had reached the limits of its patience.

He said actions by the United States in Syria were not befitting the alliance between the two countries and said the U.S. support for the Kurdish YPG forces was "inexplicable".

Bozdag also said the cabinet had agreed to extend Turkey's state of emergency by three months from Jan. 18.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by John Stonestreet)

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