While the timeline of the Turkish forces’ stay inside Syria and its full impact on the USA efforts to counter Islamic State along the Syrian-Turkish border remain unanswered, most analysts say that Turkey has its own, separate goals for the cross-border incursion.
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In response, Turkey’s foreign ministry criticised the comments coming from U.S. officials and reminded Washington about the promise of keeping PYD and YPG east of Euphrates river.
The Turkish government has long accused the Kurdish groups of being the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), a group that has been deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members.
Turkey last week launched a two-pronged offensive against the Islamic State group and the YPG in northern Syria.
Washington said Tuesday the two sides – both United States allies – had agreed to a cessation of hostilities between their forces in Syria after deadly clashes at the weekend.
United States fighter jets take off from an airbase 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.
On 24 August, Turkish forces and sections of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) forced Isis out of the Syrian city of Jarablus.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported calm Tuesday on the southern front of Jarablus, which Turkish forces captured from IS jihadists last week on the first day of their incursion.
Also on Monday, Turkey warned it would carry out more strikes on the US-backed YPG in Syria if it fails to retreat from the border area.
Cook said the coalition is establishing communication channels “for de-conflicting operations and maneuvers in this crowded battlespace”.
“Turkey is a sovereign country”.
“By pursuing the Euphrates Shield operation, which is crucial for our national security and for our neighbours’ security, the Turkish Armed Forces are showing they have lost none of their strength”, Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar said in a statement to mark a national holiday.
There was no immediate confirmation from Turkey.
The YPG has since been advancing into northern Syria territory controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
“The Turkish army must quickly stop its military operations”.
The extremist group has suffered a string of defeats in recent weeks, including in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, where Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels drove IS out of the border town of Jarablus last week. Over the weekend, clashes killed several Kurdish fighters. The Kurdish-led forces, aided by airstrikes from the U.S-led coalition, repelled the attack initially but Darwish says clashes continued on Tuesday.
The Kurdish-backed Jarablus Military Council said in a statement Tuesday it had agreed to a cease-fire following consultations with the US -led coalition.
The Turkish military said Turkey-backed Syrian rebels – a mix of various Islamist rebel factions – have cleared 10 more villages of “terrorist entities” and now control of an area totaling some 400 square kilometers (about 150 square miles) south and west of Jarablus…
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On Tuesday, Turkey again demanded guarantees from Washington on the group’s promise to the USA to retreat east of the Euphrates river.
