Turkish troops clashed with the USA -backed Kurdish Syrian forces around Jarablus to try to halt their advance and form a contiguous corridor on the border between Turkey and Syria.
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Turkish-backed rebels patrolled the town on motorbikes on Wednesday as children played in dusty alleys.
“Moving into Syria is the easiest part; it’s about coming back”, warns retired Turkish brigadier general Haldun Solmazturk, a veteran of cross-border operations against the PKK who now heads the Ankara-based political research organization 21st Century.
“At the moment, they are saying the YPG has crossed”, Erdogan said.
“The Turkish army must quickly stop its military operations”, he said.
Yesterday, Russia added its voice, with the foreign affairs ministry calling on Turkey to avoid strikes in Syria on opposition and ethnic groups fighting Islamic State, including Syrian Kurds. Turkey has said it supports Syria’s territorial integrity and won’t allow Kurdish self-rule in north of the country.
In a statement, the military said Turkish artillery had hit positions in the Zavgar and Kulliyah regions from 9.30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) on Tuesday.
FSA factions had also captured the villages of Fursan, Lilawa, Kino and Najma just south of Arab Ezza, according to a source in another rebel group, the Failaq al-Sham.
The Islamic State group’s Aamaq news agency says the “martyrdom” attack occurred in the village of Kuliyah, west of the Syrian border town of Jarablus.
Turkey’s incursion helped the rebels take Jarablus from the Islamic State group, but clashes subsequently broke out in the area between Turkish and Kurdish forces – both US -allies.
Turkey had a ringside seat for the protracted USA occupation of Iraq and its painful fallout.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency is reporting that a senior commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard has been killed in Syria.
“Our determination continues”, Yildirim said.
But Turkish strikes on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia (YPG) have anxious the United States, which regards the group as an ally in the fight against IS.
The Pentagon said Wednesday that relative “calm” prevailed in northeastern Syria, while Turkey was adamant that there was no deal with Washington to stop attacking the US -backed Syrian Kurdish group that has been essential to the anti-ISIS campaign. Ankara is a member of the USA -led military coalition fighting Islamic State but considers the YPG a national security threat. But it views the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which is backed by Washington, as an extension of Kurdish militants who have waged a three-decade insurgency on its own soil.
Turkish clashes with SDF loyalists have alarmed the United States, which has described the Turkish action as “unacceptable” because it hindered the battle against Islamic State. All terrorists are bad. Erdogan will hold discussions on the issue during the G-20 summit in China, he added.
However, the US-led anti-ISIS coalition has been backing the YPG with training and equipment.
“The main risk is ISIS’ response inside Turkey, like they did in Antep, Suruc, in Ankara”, he said.
By Monday, Turkish forces and their rebel allies had advanced to within around 15 kilometers of Manbij, a city west of the Euphrates taken by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from IS earlier this month.
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While pressing its Syria offensive, Turkey has also been reinforcing its defenses to prevent cross-border attacks.
