Turkish forces and allied factions of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) forced IS out of the Syrian border city of Jarablus a week ago and have since pounded neighbouring villages held by Kurdish-led, US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF).
Advertisement
But yesterday Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said: “Turkey is a sovereign state … a legitimate state”.
The truce came against the backdrop of a recent showdown between both rebel groups in that region, especially after Turkey pushed in with special forces, tanks, and FSA fighters from its side of the borders and captured Jarablus from the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group last week.
The United States calls the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its militia force the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria its allies.
On Tuesday, the Kurdish-backed Jarablus Military Council said in a statement that it had agreed to a cease-fire following consultations with the US -led coalition leading a fight against Islamic State militants.
There are even US recruits in the PYD forces and three have been recently killed during the fighting in northern Syria.
Washington said Tuesday the two sides – both U.S. allies – had agreed to a cessation of hostilities between their forces in Syria after deadly clashes at the weekend.
But Islamic State (Isis) attacked Turkish lines west of the city on Tuesday night, wounding three Turkish troops in a rocket barrage.
Such advancement to the south would allow Ankara forces and Turkey-supported Syrian opposition groups to unite with other militants south of Aleppo, he said.
Turkey has demanded that pro- Kurdish forces leave the mainly Arab town.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on activists inside Syria, said Wednesday’s attack was carried out by a North African IS member.
The United States’ attempts to bring together bitter enemies to tackle the so-called Islamic State in Syria are unraveling, as Washington’s key partners turn their guns on each other.
Moscow is closely following the Turkish army’s operation in northern Syria and it urges coordination of the military operation with the Syrian authorities, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on August 31.
USA fighter jets take off from an air base in Turkey to bomb ISIS strongholds in Syria and Iraq – and to provide air support for the very Kurdish fighters that Turkey is now targeting.
In recent days, Turkish forces have attacked Syrian Kurds aligned with the US, saying they had failed to move east of the Euphrates Rivers.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the goal was to drive Islamic State from a 90-km strip of land along the border with Turkey, which has been buffeted by a spate of bombings, blamed on the group, that have killed scores.
Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies have kept up their fight against IS, whose strategist Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in an air strike Tuesday claimed both by the US-led anti-IS coalition and Russian Federation.
Kalın underlined that Turkey had no any problem with Kurds in Turkey, Iran, Iraq or Syria or with any Kurd in any part of the world.
Advertisement
The Pentagon earlier said the Turkish forces had in fact moved to the west, while Kurdish forces had moved east of the Euphrates River, in compliance with Turkish and USA authorities.
