More than 100 terrorists have been killed by the Turkish armed forces since the beginning of the Euphrates Shield military operation in northern Syria, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said Wednesday. “This is the first opportunity that I’ve had to meet face to face with President Erdogan since the bad attempted coup”, Obama said.
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A group of 292 Syrians went back to the Syrian town of Jarablus from Turkey on Wednesday, marking the first formal return of civilians since Ankara launched a military incursion two weeks ago to try to secure the border region, a Turkish official said.
Turkey, which hosts 3 million Syrian refugees, has urged world powers to back plans for a “safe zone” in north Syria to stem the flow of migrants and to allow Syrians to return home.
Daesh is another term for Islamic State, while the PYD is the political wing of Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara says is an extension of Turkey’s outlawed PKK, a Kurdish militant group that is fighting for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast.
The Turkish-backed forces have been advancing towards Manbij, a city around 30 km south of Jarablus that was captured last month from Islamic State by a USA -backed coalition that includes the YPG. It has also said it would support any USA initiative to strike Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa, further to the southeast.
The two countries have suffered from a strained relationship recently with Erdogan accusing Washington of offering little support following the failed coup on 15 July and the U.S. backing Kurdish forces fighting IS, deemed terrorists by Ankara.
An alliance of militias backed by the YPG and known as the Syrian Democratic Forces last month drove Islamic State from the city of Manbij, which is located to the west of the river Euphrates and is also a target of the Turkey-backed operation.
Erdogan referred to this divergent view in China, saying that it was important for the United States and Turkey to fight against all terrorist groups, not just the Islamic State. He said more would return gradually.
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But Ankara’s move, steered against Kurdish forces backed by Washington in part, prompted serious tensions in US-Turkey relations inferior in the aftermath of the unsuccessful coup against the Erdogan government.
