Skirmishes broke out between Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and the US -backed Kurdish fighters, raising the potential for an all-out confrontation between the two American allies that would also jeopardize the fight against the Islamic State group in the volatile area.
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A Turkish army tank stationed overlooks the Syrian border, in Karkamis, Turkey, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016. Even though the USA supported the Syrian Kurds and the People’s Protection Unit (YPG), Biden’s visit indicates that Washington might change its priorities in favor of Turkey.
Clashes involving Turkish troops and the Kurdish militias could rapidly see the Syrian conflict, which has already claimed an estimated 400,000 lives, spill over into Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member home to substantial deployments of U.S. and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces and weaponry.
Rebel commanders said they had advanced up to 10km (6 miles) south of Jarablus and 10km westwards along the Turkish frontier. On Aug. 24, Vice President Joe Biden visited with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and seemingly agreed that the YPG must be reined in, echoing Turkey’s long-standing demand in saying the YPG “must move back across the Euphrates River”.
Turkey had made the case more strongly to Washington over the past few months, had patched up relations with Russian Federation, and had removed some of the Turkish commanders from their posts after finding they were involved in the coup attempt, paving the way for the operation to go ahead, the official said.
“We want to cleanse this area before moving south”, Osman said.
ISTANBUL (AP) – Kurdish-led forces in Syria said they have come under artillery shelling in northern Aleppo Friday from the Turkish military for the second straight day, as Ankara continued its campaign to push the group back from its border areas. “We, as a faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces, are waiting for the general command of the SDF to give orders to enter the city”. Turkey was faced with disaster in Syria, where it had failed to depose President Bashar al-Assad and opened the door to a section of the PKK, at war with the Turkish state for 32 years, setting up its own well-armed state. The operation, he said, could take weeks or months to complete. “They can not, will not, under any circumstance get American support if they do not keep that commitment”, Biden said during his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The YPG meanwhile said in a statement that the SDF had handed over military command in Manbij and all of its positions in the town to the local Manbij Military Council.
Even before the start of the Turkish-led effort to take Jarablus, U.S. military officials were keeping a close eye on IS movements, dedicating extra resources to track the terrorist fighters as they fled Manbij to Jarablus, many trying to protect themselves by using civilians as human shields.
In deciding about the operation in Jarabulus, the Turkish leader has sent a signal that relations with the US remain a priority for him, and he prefers to act in the framework of the antiterrorist coalition led not by Moscow, but Washington.
“A number of [the] staunchest opponents of military action ended up partaking in the coup attempt”, he added.
The Russian defence ministry reported Friday that two ships in the Mediterranean fired long-range cruise missiles for the first time against Jihadi targets within Syria. “We are now planning not to confront them, but if we have to confront them, we will”, Osman said. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the YPG, said the intervention was a “blatant aggression in Syrian internal affairs”. Turkish leaders have always been concerned over the rapid advance of Kurdish forces fighting ISIS along its southern border, allowing the YPG to take Jarablus would be unacceptable from Turkey’s perspective.
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It is worth noting that there are a number of worldwide coalitions for the fight against the IS in Syria.
