There will be no meeting of the Iran nuclear deal participants on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week, the EU and Iran have announced.
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Trump once again threatens Turkey with heavy sanctions
President Trump once again warned that if Turkey’s military operation in Syria continues, the country will face heavy sanctions from the United States.
Trump tweeted on Sunday that the US Treasury Department is ready to impose sanctions on Turkey.
In an interview with Fox News, Mark Esper, the US Defense Secretary also stated that the US does not intend to go to war with Turkey, which is an old NATO ally.
Despite heavy international criticism, Turkish forces continued their attacks on two Kurdish majority border cities in Syria.
President Erdogan of Turkey announced in a press conference on Sunday that his country’s forces will only move in Syria for a depth of 30 km. He also reported that the city of Sari Kani is now under Turkish control and the city of Tell Abiad is under siege by Turkish forces who are fighting against the Kurdish militia.
He said: “We have focused on an area of 120km between Sari Kani and Tell Abiad. Now we can cut off 480 km of the terrorist corridor in the middle.”
The Turkish president emphasized: “We will move to the depth of 30 to 35 km in accordance with the security buffer zone plan that we announced earlier.”
Erdogan also reported that two Turkish soldiers and 16 Kurdish militia were killed in the attacks.
The United Nations have reported the number of Syrians displaced due to Turkey’s attack at around 130 thousand.
After President Trump moved American troops out of the border area between Syria and Turkey, The Turkish army began its military operation against the Kurdish militia in that area. Turkey has designated these groups terrorists.
The United States, the Arab League, and several European countries have condemned these attacks, with France and Germany announcing that they will stop sending weapons to Turkey.
The Kurdish forces have denied Turkey’s claim that Turkish forces are now controlling the city of Sari Kani.
On Sunday, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that 480 militia members tied to Syrian Democratic Forces have been killed so far in the attacks.
According to Syria Human Rights Watch, 74 Kurdish fighters, 49 Turkey-backed Syrian militia members, and 30 civilians have been killed in Turkey’s military operation in Syria.
Turkey says the goal of its military operation is to create a “safe zone” inside Syria to return 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
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