Turkish army soldiers stand guard as Kurdish people wait in a hope to enter Cizre, a town subject to a curfew as part of a controversial operation against Kurdish rebels, on March 22, 2016 in Mardin, for Newroz celebration. Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for ‘New Year’, is an ancient Persian festival, celebrated on the first day of spring, March 21, in Central Asian republics, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran. / AFP PHOTO / ILYAS AKENGIN

BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:40 P.M.) – The U.S. is attempting to block Turkey’s upcoming military operation in northern Syria with the use of their observation posts, Turkish Minister of Parliament Ozturk Yilmaz said on Monday.

“The main aim of the [U.S.] move is to block Turkey’s possible operation in the area,” he told reporters, as reported by state-owned Anadolu News Agency.

He added that the U.S. also aims to “encircle Iran and Turkey and control Baghdad and Damascus.”

The U.S. is constructing five observation posts in northern Syria that will stretch across the provinces of Aleppo and Al-Raqqa.

As a result of these observation posts, Turkey will not be able to maneuver towards the positions of the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Turkey views the aforementioned groups as terrorist affiliates of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who was engaged in a bloody war with the Turkish Army for several years.