The United States has ordered North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey to stop attacking Kurdish units in northern Syria and focus on fighting Islamic State (Isis).
Advertisement
An earlier statement today from Peter Cook, Pentagon press secretary, called the fighting south of Jarabulus “unacceptable” and labeled them “a source of deep concern”.
The meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be held Sunday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, a major economic meeting, in China.
The United States said Monday clashes in Syria between Turkish forces and units affiliated with a US -supported Kurdish-led alliance are not acceptable and is calling on all sides to stand down.
The officials are also concerned that the friction with Turkey could affect operations out of the US air base at Incirlik in southeastern Turkey, which has been vital to the USA effort to provide close-air support for the US -backed rebel groups inside Syria in the fight against ISIS.
Obama wants to talk with Erdogan about events in Turkey after July’s attempted coup, the military campaign against Islamic State, and how to promote stability in Syria, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters.
He spoke about last week’s operation in Jarablus, where pro-Turkish rebels with the help of the Turkish military ousted ISIS, saying it was an example of the country’s commitment against terrorism. Washington’s biggest fear is that the animosities could divert resources and attention from fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The Turkish thrust into Syria has added another complication to an already multi-sided civil war in its sixth year that has killed more than 300,000, displaced millions and led to a refugee crisis in Europe.
“We have our lines of defense, and we are ready to defend Manbij”, said Derwish, an ethnic Kurd who has also served as a spokesman for the SDF.
At the start of Turkey’s now nearly week-long cross-border offensive, Turkish tanks, artillery and warplanes provided Syrian rebel allies the firepower to capture swiftly the Syrian frontier town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants.
On Monday, the Jarabulus Military Council, a group created by the SDF, said its fighters would withdraw to areas south of the al-Sajour River – not east of the Euphrates, as Turkey wants.
Carter called for Turkey to “stay focused” on ISIS and not the Kurdish forces.
The Observatory also reported clashes Monday between the rebels and IS fighters on the western edge of Jarablus.
Three rockets fired from ISIS-controlled territory in northern Syria into the Turkish province of Kilis struck a residential building and landed in two fields, injuring five children, the provincial governor said, according to Anadolu.
Advertisement
The Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective, says the rebels captured seven more villages since late Sunday.
