Working with “moderate” and “vetted” Syrian rebel groups, Turkish forces swept into northern Syria – assisted in part by U.S. air power – and quickly took control of the border town Jarabulus.
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However, Turkey has insisted Kurdish militia, which it regards as terrorists, retreat east across the Euphrates river.
He said that it was out of the question for Ankara to reach any agreement with a group it considers a terror organization.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday that military “operations will continue until all terrorist elements have been neutralized, until all threats to our borders, our lands and our citizens are completely over”.
A member of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) is pictured in the border town of Jarablus, Syria, August 31, 2016.
Washington has been alarmed by Turkey’s week-long incursion into Syria, saying it was “unacceptable” for its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally to hit militias loyal to Kurdish-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that Washington supports to fight against Islamic State.
“Turkey is a sovereign state, it is a legitimate state”, said EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik, echoing comment by Turkey’s foreign ministry.
The defiant rhetoric is likely to set back US expectations of a halt in the fighting between Washington’s two allies in the region, both of whom are also fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
Turkey’s incursion helped the rebels take Jarablus from the Islamic State group, but clashes subsequently broke out in the area between Turkish and Kurdish forces – both USA -allies.
The Turkish incursion has left Washington scrambling to get its feuding allies to focus their firepower on Islamic State instead of each other after clashes that have threatened to unravel America’s war strategy in Syria.
Washington described weekend clashes between Turkey and the Kurdish-led forces as “unacceptable” and urged the warring parties to stop fighting each other and concentrate on combatting IS.
While Ankara and Washington are allies, the United States depends on Kurdish forces for support in attacking IS in northern Syria.
Kalin said Turkey’s problems were with terrorist organizations such as the PKK/PYD.
Kalin says Erdogan is engaged in diplomacy to try to secure a cease-fire in Syria during the upcoming Eid holiday.
A provincial Turkish official says security forces fired tear gas and a water cannon at some 400 protesters on the Syrian side of the border Friday, after they threw rocks at builders of the new wall.
The spokesman reiterated that Turkey considered the PYD to be the Syrian offshoot of the terrorist PKK organization.
He also said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would meet worldwide leaders, including the Chinese, U.S. and Russian presidents, at an upcoming G-20 summit in China.
The bulk of Turkish-backed forces have since moved further south into territory held by militias loyal to the Kurdish-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition supported by Washington in its bid to defeat the jihadists.
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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 US authorities.
