DAMASCUS, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Tuesday that the Syrian government will defend all Syrian areas and will not accept any form of occupation by foreign forces.
Mekdad made the remarks in reference to the Turkish military campaign against the Kurdish forces in Kurdish-controlled areas in northern and northeastern Syria, said pro-government al-Watan news website on Tuesday.
This stance comes as Syria's national TV said Monday evening that Turkish forces targeted positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern and northeastern Syria.
A day earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was ready to launch military operations against the People's Protection Unit (YPG) and its allies of the SDF in the east of the Euphrates in northern Syria "at any moment."
Turkey sees the YPG and its allied SDF as separatists and terrorists, citing their links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
The Kurdish militia forces have been controlling areas in northern Syria since the early years of the crisis in Syria, in order to force Damascus to recognize a federal rule or autonomy for the Kurds in northern Syria.
However, Syrian government officials repeatedly said that Kurdish federalization in Syria or self-rule is out of the question.
