The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 40 civilians were killed in Turkish shelling and air strikes on pro-Kurdish positions in northern Syria on Sunday.
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Carter’s comments and a written statement by the Pentagon earlier Monday were the first US criticism of Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, since it launched a USA -backed incursion into northern Syria to help Syrian rebels seize the town of Jarablus from the Islamic State group.
According to the United Kingdom based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 40 civilians were killed in separate Turkish strikes near the village of al-Amarneh and in Jeb al-Kussa, which are just outside Jarablus.
Turkey’s backing the Syrian rebels, too.
The Jarabulus military council – affiliated to the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – said its forces had withdrawn south of the Sajur River, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Jarabulus, “to protect the lives of civilians”.
The YPG, a powerful Syrian Kurdish militia in the SDF that Washington sees as a reliable ally against jihadis in the Syrian conflict, have dismissed the Turkish allegation and say any of its forces west of the Euphrates have long since left.
Ankara in turn suspects the Islamic State’s involvement in the attack, as those targeted were traveling across the border to help rebuild the battered city of Kobane.
The FSA has reportedly set its sights on Manbij, which the YPG had recently captured from ISIS (Al Jazeera).
The Turkish President told a supportive crowd that “operations against terrorist organisations will continue until the end”. Turkish officials have repeatedly insisted they consider the Syrian Kurds and ISIS to be equal problems. When Daesh terrorists controlled the city, it became impossible to live in it, which is why we fled to Turkey.
“We want to make clear that we find these clashes ± in areas where ISIL is not located – unacceptable and a source of deep concern”, said Brett McGurk, U.S special envoy for the fight against Islamic State, using an acronym for the jihadis. “We call on all armed actors to stand down”.
“We’ve called on both sides not to fight one another, not to fight each other”, he said.
White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said further Turkish targeting of the SDF, which also includes Arab fighters, would undermine efforts to forge a “united front” against the Islamic State group. At their meeting in China, he went on, Obama and Erdogan would discuss the situation in Turkey since the attempted military coup of July 15, as well as the war in Syria and the refugee crisis that it has produced.
Syria’s official Sana agency said Damascus had written to the UN Security Council to protest Turkey’s “crimes against humanity” in the country.
“If that happens, it means Syria has been divided”, he added, quoted by NTV television. “Turkey is not an invader”.
Turkey, which is battling a Kurdish insurgency on its soil, has said its campaign has a dual goal of “cleansing” the region of Islamic State and stopping Kurdish forces filling the void and extending the area they control near Turkey’s border. The Erdogan regime regards the advance of the YPG in Syria as a deadly threat, when combined with the existence of a Kurdish Regional Authority in northern Iraq, and the renewed attacks by the PKK in southeastern Turkey itself. “Turkey will never allow a united Kurdish territory to take shape in Syria”, he said.
The Free Syrian Army has obtained information that YPG and PYD acquired chemical weapons, and there is a high probability that the weapons can be used against the Free Syrian Army and the Turkish armed forces. The result is that separate US-backed Syrian militias are fighting each other.
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Ankara fears the emergence of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria would bolster Kurdish rebels across the border in southeast Turkey. “Russian Federation had informed Syria about the operation and we are certain about it”.
