Erdogan Accuses U.S. of Creating `Army of Terror' on Turk Border
- Ankara denounces U.S. plans to use Kurds in new border guard
- Turkish president says Afrin campaign due to start any minute
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Photographer: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Washington of establishing an “army of terror” along the Turkish border, as his country drew closer to open confrontation with U.S.-backed Kurdish troops in neighboring Syria.
Erdogan, who regards the Kurdish fighters as affiliates of Turkish Kurds battling for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast, said Monday that a Turkish offensive in the Kurdish-controlled town of Afrin in northern Syria was imminent. The spark for the campaign is a new U.S.-backed plan to turn thousands of Syrian Kurds who fought Islamic State into border guards in areas they control along Turkey’s frontier.