Turkish forces and Syrian rebels expelled the Islamic State group from the last areas of the Syrian-Turkish border under their control on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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“Rebels and Islamist factions backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes” had captured many villages “after IS withdrew from them, ending IS’s presence. on the border”.
While Turkey and its rebel proxies have targeted ISIL in their campaign, they have also targeted the Kurdish YPG forces – U.S. allies that have been the most effective fighting force on the ground against ISIL in Syria, but a group that Ankara considers to be terrorists.
Ankara fears the Kurds will create a contiguous autonomous zone in northern Syria, emboldening Kurdish separatists inside Turkey.
The loss of its territory along the Turkish border follows a series of recent defeats for ISIS, including its expulsion from the central Iraqi city of Fallujah and its defeat in the former stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria. By Sunday night, the Turkey-supported Syrian rebel forces had control of a territory stretching unbroken from Azaz to Jarablus, according to Anadolu and a spokesman for one of the Syrian rebel militias taking part.
While the government in Damascus is condemning the Turkish incursion as a violation of Syrian sovereignty, on Sunday the Turkish Prime Minister said that Syrian territorial integrity is “essential” for Turkey, as Binali Yildirim vowed to continue military operation south of the border. That position has caused friction with Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member and a partner in the fight against Islamic State. Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border.
Commenting on the expected visit of the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Turkey Sept. 8-9, Kuloglu said it is not ruled out that the parties will discuss the possibilities of closing the airspace over the northern Syria.
“This is an important step forward in the fight against ISIL”, a US official said, using Washington’s acronym for Islamic State.
Turkey’s incursion into Syria adds a further layer of complexity to the country’s unrelenting five-year civil war, which has devastated the country, cost hundreds of thousands of lives, sparked a refugee crisis and drawn in regional and world powers.
Turkish authorities are also building a wall to boost security along a stretch of its border with Syria, Anadolu reported.
The traffic went both ways, and operatives who participated in attacks in Turkey as well as Paris and Belgium had crossed back across the border from Islamic State territory.
A deal would depend on Moscow using its influence with Syrian President Bashar Assad to persuade him to ground planes and stop the assault on opposition forces.
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Speaking to reporters at the G20 meeting in China, Mr Obama said: “We have grave differences with the Russians in terms of both the parties we support but also the process that is required to bring about peace in Syria”.
