ISTANBUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkish security forces would enter the northern Syrian town of Manbij if the United States doesn't remove the Kurdish militia from the area.
"They promised us that they would remove them to the east of the Euphrates," Erdogan said at a conference in Istanbul.
"If you will not clean the area, we will enter Manbij," he stressed.
Erdogan said that Turkey had lost enough time in intervening in the region, adding "from now it will not tolerate a single day delay."
Ankara argues that Manbij is an Arab town and should be cleaned from the Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara and Washington have long been at odds over the state of the YPG in Syria, as the U.S. considers the group as an ally in its fight against the Islamic State, while Turkey sees it as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Erdogan vowed earlier this week to launch a new operation targeting the east of the Euphrates River in Syria, sparking concern in Washington.
"Turkey was determined to bring peace and security to the east of the Euphrates," the president said.
Meanwhile, Turkish jets destroyed over 30 "terror targets" in northern Iraq in an overnight operation, Turkey's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Mount Karajak area inside Iraq was hit for the first time, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan said Turkey's "anti-terror operations" in northern Iraq will continue.
