Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes entered one of Islamic State’s last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border on Wednesday, in Turkey’s first major US -backed incursion into its southern neighbor.
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The surprise incursion to capture the town of Jarablus was a dramatic escalation of Turkey’s role in Syria’s war. Turkey on Wednesday sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels retake the key Islamic State-held town of Jarablus and to conta.
“The Jarabulus plan achieves two interrelated goals: it pushes Daesh from your border, while denying Kurds the freedom to take Jarabulus and link up with Afrin”, said Stein. It has ordered the YPG, which makes up the bulk of the US -backed Syria Democratic Forces and has been one of the most effective opponents of IS, to withdraw to the east bank of the Euphrates River, which crosses the border at Jarablus.
Yet, it had deeper reverberations, signalling a broad and volatile reshuffling of alliances in and around Syria.
If the Syrian Kurdish fighters and Turkey agree to those terms, a potentially major stumbling block for the various forces lined up against ISIS may be overcome in the short term.
President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman Josh Earnest said the Turkish assault was “an indication of important progress” in the campaign against ISIS.
Elements belonging to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) say Turkish forces have shelled their positions with chemical weapons north of the Syrian city of Manbij.
However, Cook did not refer to the clashes between Kurdish-led forces and Turkey-backed rebels near Jarabulus, while local officials suggested that the Turkish statements that they are against any de facto “Kurdish state in Syria” clearly indicates that Turkey’s target is the Kurds, and not ISIS.
U. S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands before a meeting in Ankara on Wednesday. Kurdish militia fighters would not receive US support if they failed to pull back east of the Euphrates as promised, he said. “They can not, will not, under any circumstance get American support if they do not keep that commitment”, Biden said during his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He says the Turkish cross-border operation would continue until “we ensure 100 percent our border security and the life and property of our people”.
Currently, the Kurds are supported by Washington because they are considered to be one of the most effective enemies of ISIS. He said Turkey and the USA have agreed that the Syrian Kurdish forces would pull out of the northern area around Jarablus within a week.
“We need construction machinery to open up roads. and we may need more in the days ahead”.
The Syrian government and its Russian ally are the only ones operating helicopters over Aleppo.
According to Turkish ministry officials, Kerry and Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the Turkish military operation.
“Russia and Turkey would like at all costs to avoid incidents like the one that occurred in November 2015”, said Isayev. It did not refer to the rebels as “terrorists”, a label it has applied to all opposition groups in the past. “Time and again they came up with excuses such as a lack of military capabilities to make it impossible for the government to move forward”.
The rebels involved in the operation appeared to be mainly from the groups fighting to unseat Mr Assad.
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Several rebel groups are taking part in the operation, fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.
