Turkey warned the Syrian regime on Monday that it would confront its forces if they entered the northwestern Afrin region to back the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) against a Turkish campaign in the area. “If (the Syrian regime forces) come in to defend the YPG, then nothing and nobody can stop Turkish soldiers,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Jordan. "This is true for Afrin, Manbij and the east of the Euphrates River," Cavusoglu added at a joint news conference in Amman with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi. He added that Turkey would have no issue with regime troops entering Afrin if they did so to “cleanse” it of the Kurdish fighters. Cavusoglu said the operation, dubbed "Olive Branch", was aimed at "removing terrorists" from its southern border. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously threatened to expand the operation to include the YPG-held town of Manbij and other towns leading to the Iraqi border. Reports had circulated over the past days that regime forces would enter Afrin. The YPG later denied claims that an agreement had been struck with Damascus over the issue. Turkey began its Afrin operation with allied Syrian rebels last month against the YPG, which Ankara regards as a threat to its border and terrorist group linked to the Kurdish PKK insurgency at home. Syrian state media said on Monday that pro-regime militia would enter Afrin “within hours” but by sunset there were no signs of a deployment there. Last week, YPG chief Sipan Hamo told reporters his forces would have "no problem" with Damascus intervening to help repel Turkeys assault. Erdogan later said in a phone call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin that Damascus would face consequences if it struck a deal with the YPG and said the Afrin operation would continue, CNN Turk reported.