An uneasy truce between Turkish troops and Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria held on Wednesday, despite Ankara’s vow that it would never negotiate with what it calls a “terror organization”.
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Ankara has denied statements from Kurdish fighters in Syria that a temporary truce had been agreed, saying it would not make any pact with the Kurdish YPG militia, a powerful force in the SDF coalition, as it considers it a terrorist body.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has blamed the US -led coalition for failing to provide air support in time to them and the Turkish armed forces during an attack in northern Syria’s western Jarabulus late Tuesday.
Stressing that there are no good and bad terrorists, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said the Islamic Republic would not allow Takfiri terrorists to continue killing innocent people in the strategic Middle East region any more.
“What is happening in Jarablus now isn’t fighting terrorism as Turkey claims – rather it is replacing one type of terrorism with another”, a Syrian government official told SANA last week, calling upon the United Nations to “put an end to this aggression”.
A week ago, Turkey launched an unprecedented military operation to clear the border area of the Islamic State group as well as halt the westward advance of the YPG, potentially complicating Washington’s strategy to defeat the militants.
Meanwhile, an Islamic State suicide bomber struck Turkish-backed Syrian rebels near the border, causing casualties, according to an opposition monitoring group and an IS-run news agency.
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. “Turkish jets arrived in the last minute”, the source added. US officials have threatened to withdraw backing for the YPG if it did not meet that demand, but have said that the Kurdish group has mostly done so.
Eager to avoid more clashes between Turkey and US -backed Syrian fighters, the Pentagon said the USA -led coalition against Islamic State was establishing communications channels to better coordinate in a “crowded battlespace” in Syria.
On August 24, Turkey deployed ground troops and Special Forces teams to the area, while the US-led coalition claimed it will synchronize its actions and airstrikes with the Turkish advance. US officials have urged Ankara to focus its attacks on the Islamist militants instead.
Turkey is concerned that Syrian Kurdish fighters could embolden Kurdish militants waging an insurgency on its soil.
“The PYD, as the Syrian extension of the PKK, is a terror organization”, Kalin said.
Ibrahim Kalin told reporters Wednesday that the Kurdish militia will remain a target for Turkey until they move east of the Euphrates River. Erdogan will hold discussions on the issue during the G-20 summit in China, he added.
Also Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said military operations in Syria “will continue until all terrorist elements have been neutralized, until all threats to our borders, our lands and our citizens are completely over”.
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He reiterated Turkish calls that Washington has to live up to its assurances that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, fully withdraws to the east of the Euphrates River, and that the pullout immediately takes place.
