I.S. claimed to have destroyed two Turkish tanks in a missile attack.
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There were no immediate reports of clashes Wednesday between Turkish forces and the USA -supported Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units), the Associated Press reported, but Turkish jets carried out airstrikes near Jarablus and Turkish artillery fired on targets west of Jarablus.
In an unprecedented operation, Turkey has been deploying tanks and troops in Syria to clear the border area of Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists and halt the westward advance of a US-backed Kurdish militia, which Ankara sees as a terrorist group.
Turkey has been involved in a three-decade-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is based in the southeast of the country’. But in the past 48 hours Turkish forces concentrated their firepower on I.S., whose strategist Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was killed in an airstrike claimed both by the USA -led anti-I.S. coalition and Russian Federation.
Celik’s comments follow heightened tensions between Turkey, the United States and local Kurdish militias in Syria fighting against the Islamic State.
The Turkey-Kurdish fight is yet another complication in the tangled civil war that is ravaging Syria as both Turkey and the U.S. seek to retake territory from Islamic State jihadists by supporting different proxy groups.
“Ultimately, Syria could yet turn into a territorial extension of the protracted fighting between Turkey and the PKK going on since 1984”, he said.
In a major blow to ISIS, the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by US airstrikes, drove ISIS from Manbij last month following a lengthy siege.
Turkey on Wednesday denied a United States claim it had agreed a truce with the Kurdish militia but the Turkish-backed fighters confirmed there was at least a lull in the fighting.
These countries all fight the bloodiest wars and support the most monstrous dictators and sectarian militias when they consider it to be in their own interest. “And their operations along the border against ISIL are extraordinarily important and welcome”.
Washington has provided the SDF with significant military assistance, including special forces advisors and airstrikes, in its anti-ISIL fight.
The US, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and all the others must keep their hands off Syria.
However, Turkey showed no signs of being ready to reach an accommodation with the YPG.
“We are continuing to negotiate (with the Turkish forces) through the Americans”, he said without elaborating. The spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said a cease-fire was “out of the question”.
The battle in northern Syria now pits US ally Turkey against the Kurdish-led force a USA -backed proxy that is the most effective ground force battling IS militants in Syria’s 5-year-old civil war.
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The owners of bakeries, grocery shops and market stalls have reemerged to start up their businesses again since Islamic State was forced from the city with the launch of Operation Euphrates Shield on August 25. He pointed out that the continuation of the presence of Turkey on the Syrian land will lead to further complication of the situation in the region. On Tuesday, US central command head Gen Joseph Votel said that Turkey and the SDF had come to a “loose agreement” to stop fighting – a claim that Turkey quickly rejected.
