Turkey has stepped up air assaults on northern Syria for the reason that November 13 Istanbul bombing.
Turkish air assaults in northern Syria threaten the protection of United States navy personnel and the escalating scenario is jeopardising years of progress in opposition to ISIL (ISIS) fighters, the Pentagon has stated.
The general public feedback on Wednesday signify the strongest condemnation by the US of NATO ally Turkey’s air operations in current days in opposition to Kurdish-led YPG (Folks’s Safety Models) forces in northern Syria to this point.
“Current air strikes in Syria immediately threatened the protection of U.S. personnel who’re working in Syria with native companions to defeat ISIS and preserve custody of greater than ten thousand ISIS detainees,” the Pentagon’s spokesman, Air Power Brigadier Basic Pat Ryder, stated in a press release.
Ryder stated the escalating scenario threatened the progress made within the struggle in opposition to ISIL fighters within the area.
He added that the US recognises Turkey’s “professional safety considerations”.
“Rapid de-escalation is critical as a way to preserve concentrate on the defeat-ISIS mission and make sure the security and safety of personnel on the bottom dedicated to the defeat-ISIS mission,” Ryder added.
The feedback from the US official come after Russia additionally warned in opposition to a Turkish floor operation in Syria.
The US has roughly 900 troopers in Syria, primarily within the northeast of the nation, who work with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the YPG, to struggle in opposition to ISIL remnants.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Wednesday that Turkey’s air operations have been solely the start and that it might launch a land operation when handy after an escalation in retaliatory strikes.
Ankara launched air operations on the weekend in retaliation for an Istanbul bomb assault every week earlier that killed six folks, and which it blamed on the Kurdistan Staff’ Get together (PKK) and the YPG. No person has claimed accountability and the PKK and YPG have denied involvement.
Turkey has beforehand launched navy incursions in Syria in opposition to the YPG, concerning it as a wing of the outlawed PKK, which Turkey, the US and the European Union designate as a “terrorist” group.
The PKK and the YPG share shut ideological ties.
This isn’t the primary time Turkey’s operations in northern Syria have threatened US personnel. In 2019, American troops within the space got here beneath artillery hearth from Turkish positions as Turkey waged an offensive in opposition to US-allied Kurdish fighters on the time.
Turkey has repeatedly complained to the US that help for the YPG-led SDF undermines Washington’s place on the PKK and its dedication to Turkey’s safety.
Erdogan maintains that Turkey will solely be capable of take away the risk from the PKK and the YPG by clearing the militias from the Turkey-Syria border and making a “protected zone” in northern Syria.