Turkey threatened Tuesday to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara's conditions for a "bloodless" transition after the fall of strongman president Bashar al-Assad.

Türkiye may initiate a military operation in Syria against Kurdish armed groups. Ankara has set certain conditions for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist organization,

Turkey is working to ensure that Syria's transformation over the last month will not bring new instabilities to the region, President Tayyip Erdogan told the Iraqi Kurdish prime minister, Erdogan's office said on Tuesday.

The fall of Bashar Assad to Islamist-led rebels has raised the prospect of Turkey intervening in Syria against Kurdish forces accused by Ankara of links to armed separatists.