“We will not retreat from this project”. While Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation country and nominal USA ally, the Turkish government has repeatedly claimed Washington has not expressed enough sympathy to Erdogan for the July 15 failed coup, which Ankara claims was orchestrated by Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric in exile in Pennsylvania.
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“The Turkish intervention will not obstruct us”.
A total of 19 Kurdish and allied fighters have been killed since the incursion began, according to the Observatory.
Mr Carter was in London for a peacekeeping summit, and ahead of it Defence Secretary Michael Fallon stressed the importance of ending the civil war in Syria so IS could be defeated. While Kurdish officials deny suggestions they aim to establish a Kurdish state, they do not hide their goal of safeguarding their autonomy in a country where they faced systematic discrimination before the conflict. Their efforts are opposed by both the Syrian government and its Sunni rebel opponents, but underpinned by one of the most powerful militias in the country, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Turkey’s projected “offensive” against terrorist groups, including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), raises the possibility of new cross-border operations in the near future that would include northern Iraq, analysts said.
In this regard, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry have agreed on holding joint talks on Syria on Friday and Saturday in Geneva, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. The main Turkish objective appears to be to prevent the Kurdish militia from taking Al-Bab, which would allow them to join their main enclave in northeastern Syria with territory they control in the northwest.
Apart from PKK militants, there are also signs pointing to Turkey’s willingness to move against Mosul to drive the IS out of the region.
More than likely, Turkey would continue to enlist Syrian rebels, an Arab and Turkmen force it empowered in northern Syria, to take some part in the fight to free Raqqa, some analysts say.
The declaration has alarmed Russian Federation, which is expressing “concern” at an expansion of Turkey’s military action in the region. The latter issue is mostly related to the U.S.’s reaction as well; yet it has given a clue that recently the YPG reportedly tried to advance from both Manbij and Afrin to al-Bab, a strategic city 30 kilometers from the Turkish border in Aleppo province, which is in the middle of both areas and now under DAESH control.
A spokesperson for the YPG said that the group had asked United States forces to take a stand in their defense against the Turkish offensive. “We will not retreat from that”.
While Washington says Turkish attacks on Kurdish-aligned militias damaged a coalition fighting the IS, Russia said Ankara’s southwards push could complicate global efforts to reach a peace deal. When the Turkish military recently took the town of Jarablus, ISIS forces withdrew without resistance, clearing the way for a clash between Turkish and Kurdish forces. “So this is very risky, and there is no exit strategy – and a war of attrition will be very costly for Turkish armed forces”.
Yousef said: “We will certainly respond to any attack that the Turks mount against our forces”.
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He said more would return gradually.
