Turkey will enter Afrin without hesitation if a threat comes from the bordering Syrian province, Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavushoglu said Thursday.

Axar.az informs that Afrin is regarded as one of the major strongholds of the PKK — designated as terrorist group by Turkey, EU and the U.S. — through its Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing People's Protection Units (YPG)."If Turkey is threatened from Afrin or any other area, we will enter that area without any hesitation and rid it of terrorists," Chavushoglu said.

He noted that a possible operation would be conducted in a manner similar to the Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Aug. 24, 2016, to drove ISIS away from Turkey's border when the terrorist group was threatening southern border provinces of Kilis, Gaziantep and Shanlıurfa

"As President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] said, one night we can suddenly enter," the foreign minister said.

The PYD terrorists occasionally carry out cross-border attacks against Turkish military from Afrin, despite the presence of American and Russian representatives and military experts in the area.