“Obama wants to do some things jointly concerning Raqqa”, Erdogan told a group of journalists during his return flight Tuesday from the G-20 summit meeting in China, local news media reported. BBC reported, quoting Erdogan as saying, Turkey would have “no problem” with such action.
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The US has supplied Turkey with military hardware to carry out the operation.
“Instead, we’ll turn this border into a ‘peace corridor.’ We don’t have any intention to take any of Syria’s territory”, he said.
“We call on Ankara to refrain from any steps which can further destabilize the situation in Syria”, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ISIS-held town of Al-Bab, west of Manbij, is another a key strategic target for both Turkish-backed and Kurdish forces where Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, one of ISIS’s most prominent leaders, is thought to have been killed in a United States air strike last week. The countries also sharply disagree over Syria’s Kurdish militias, which Turkey sees as its main enemy in Syria, and the USA sees as its most effective ground partner against the Islamic State, the group also known as Isis.
Russian Federation criticised for the first time the Turkish military operation in Syria, joined by militias opposing the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
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Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, a senior Turkish government official said that “Syrians will continue to return to their country”.
But it remains unclear if the Syrian rebels backed by Turkey will proceed further south to take Al-Bab from IS jihadists and then Raqa itself, or to what extent the operation has U.S. support.
Turkey has said it cleared militants from a 90-km (56-mile) stretch of Syrian territory and has pushed south.
Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border.
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.
Turkish military sources cited by Hurriyet news, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed there is no validity to reports that Turkey killed six YPG fighters and wounded scores of civilians in Afrin during Wednesday’s clashes.
It’d be an acknowledgement by Washington of Turkey’s continuing tactical interest in Syria.
Turkey fears that a strong Kurdish entity in Syria would aid and embolden PKK fighters who have been fighting against the Turkish military for decades.
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The Turkish-backed rebels have clashed with Kurdish-allied forces north of Manbij since the Turkish incursion began on August 24.
