Just hours after the operation began, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden landed in Ankara. “They challenged us. They said, ‘This and that will happen to Turkey in Syria.’ Now I am addressing them: You should think of what will happen to yourselves”.
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Biden, the official said, will try to convince Turkey that the United States understands the trauma of last month’s coup attempt here.
Aybet said the military operation showed Turkey would not allow the YPG to put down roots on its doorstep and allow a fragmentation of the Syrian state. He said the operation was in response to a string of attacks in Turkey, including an IS suicide bombing at a wedding party near the border which killed 54 people.
Wednesday’s operation came a day after Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would give “every kind” of support to fighting ISIS in the area around Jarablus. “Whether [the fight is against] Daesh, the PKK, the PYD or FETO, [they are] all terrorists in our view”, he said.
Wednesday’s visit comes at a hard time for ties between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies. Turkey accuses a USA -based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of masterminding the attempted putsch. The Syrian government demanded an immediate end to what it called Turkish aggression, saying the incursion was a “blatant violation” of Syrian sovereignty being carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
A U.S. Justice Department team arrived here Tuesday to clarify some of the information contained in four separate Turkish requests, all of which refer to alleged criminal activity by Gulen predating the coup attempt.
What message is the Turkish government sending to the USA by getting closer to Iran and Russian Federation? “Wednesday’s dual-purpose operation puts Turkey on track for a confrontation with the USA -backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, the most effective fighting force against IS in the area”, as The Associated Press reports. They fired airstrikes on Islamic State targets from the border area as far as Aleppo, we’re told.
A USA official on Wednesday said Kurdish-dominated forces had stopped moving north towards Jarabulus.
The US, Turkey’s ally and a key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner in the fight against Islamic State, has been working with the YPG in other areas of northern Syria, which is seen as the most organised opposition force in the war against both Isis and Syrian government forces. But the Turkish invasion will also deny Kurdish militia from consolidating its gains in northeastern Syria. At that point, however, the Pentagon had no troops on the ground in Syria.
There has also been a recent upsurge in shelling of Turkish territory from Syrian towns under IS control.
Military sources said the air strikes hit 12 Islamic State targets, while artillery fire hit 70 targets.
In the meantime, the co-head of the Democratic Union Party in Syria (PYD) Salih Muslim said that Turkey is entering a Syrian quagmire, and “will be defeated as Daesh”.
The YPG and other Syrian Kurds stand on the east bank of the river, and from there they hold the entire border with Turkey all the way to Iraq. The YPG, armed wing of the PYD, took control of most of Hasaka city on Tuesday, about 250km east of Jarablus.
Mr Erdogan emphasised that the operation was also targeting Kurdish militia fighters (PYD) strongly opposed by Ankara – but backed by the U.S. as a key ally against IS – who had also been closing in on Jarabulus.
The SDF is the alliance that has been waging the campaign against Islamic State in northern Syria, most recently west of the Euphrates river. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the operation publicly. “They can not, will not and under no circumstances get American support if they do not keep that commitment”.
Turkey followed through with its vow to expunge ISIS from its border by launching a large-scale offensive against the city of Jarablus on Wednesday. Approximately 5,000 Free Syrian Army fighters are said to be taking part in the operation that is also expected to be backed by American warplanes. A Syrian rebel with one of the Turkey-backed groups said about 1,500 fighters had gathered in Turkey to take part.
It issued a statement welcoming “the support of Turkey and the worldwide coalition for the military operation in Jarabulus”, in which “the rebels are carrying out the combat operations”.
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Nato-member Turkey in recent weeks has backed away from its traditional alliance with the West in favour of fresh ties with Russian Federation.
