Clashes in places where so-called Islamic State (IS) was not present were a “source of deep concern”, the U.S. envoy to the anti-IS coalition tweeted.
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Cook said the USA doesn’t support reported Turkish airstrikes and artillery shelling of US -backed Syrian Kurdish fighters – or Kurdish attacks on Turkish troops – in areas where IS fighters no longer operate.
The Turkish government reportedly aims to build a seperation barrier between its territory and Syria as a bulwark against future cross-border activity.
Ankara says the Syrian Kurdish fighters are terrorists.
The sharp rhetoric – and the continued fighting – reflects the quagmire in northern Syria after Turkish tanks rolled across the border last week to help Syrian rebels seize the town of Jarablus from the Islamic State group, a move that was also aimed at deterring further advances by the Kurdish-led forces.
In a written statement on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook called the clashes south of the Euphrates River town of Jarablus “unacceptable” and a source of “deep concern”.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.
Turkish officials have openly stated that their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey’s border, as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.
The Kurdish YPG militia, which makes up a large part of the SDF, said it had withdrawn east of the Euphrates in line with USA and Turkish demands after the SDF drove Islamic State out of Manbij.
“The United States is aware of Turkey’s sensitivities”, Hurriyet quoted Kurtulmus as telling a group of journalists in Istanbul.
Soldiers in tanks return from Syria after a military operation at the border near Gaziantep, Turkey, on Saturday.
The YPG, a powerful Syrian Kurdish militia in the SDF that Washington sees as a reliable ally against jihadists in the Syrian conflict, have dismissed the Turkish allegation and say any of its forces west of the Euphrates have long since left. But its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, Turkey, has taken a dim view of that backing.
The US always knew the coalitions it was putting together in this part of the world would be fragile – it will now have to use all its diplomatic might to hold things together.
The YPG is the main component of the US-backed SDF alliance, which has been fighting IS in northern Syria.
Cavusoglu also hailed the success of the lightning operation by Turkish-backed Syrian Arab fighters, who on Wednesday captured the town of Jarabulus from IS.
On August 24 morning, the Turkish Air Force with the support of the coalition aircrafts launched an operation to liberate the city of Jarabulus from the IS militants in northern Syria, near Aleppo city.
Previously, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that this operation will continue until the PYD militants are completely liquidated.
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“We call on all armed actors to stand down… the U.S.is actively engaged to facilitate such deconfliction and unity of focus on ISIS, which remains a lethal and common threat”.
