Jarablus had been controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL) for nearly two years until it was captured by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in a cross-border offensive launched on August 24.
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Turkey plunged into Syria with ground forces for the first time, using tanks, artillery and air power to help a force comprising US- and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels seize a border area from Islamic State. Amidst the ongoing multifaceted crisis in Syria, it is important for Turkey, the YPG and the US-led coalition to drop their individual interests and work to defeat the common enemy, the Islamic State.
The countries also sharply disagree over Syria’s Kurdish militias, which Turkey sees as its main enemy in Syria, and the U.S. sees as its most effective ground partner against the Islamic State, the group also known as Isis. Russia, which backs the government in Damascus, said on Wednesday Ankara’s push south threatened Syria’s sovereignty. “Ankara understands that a direct military confrontation with the YPG will lead to a major deterioration of Turkey’s relations with Russian Federation and other unpredictable consequences”, the professor said.
He said the operation against IS “could gain some degree of depth” with Turkey still pressing for a no-fly zone on the Syrian side of the border.
The strikes included areas in and around Tel Ali, and Turkish media claimed that Turkish-backed rebels, linked to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), had captured the region away from ISIS over the course of today’s offensive.
Wounded people were taken to hospitals in Turkey’s southern province of Gaziantep, which lies across the border from Jarablus, same hospital sources said. It says a shortage of shelter space means many displaced families are sleeping outdoors in parks.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests -which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity. The people who left came back.
The United Nations has in the past expressed caution about encouraging returns of civilians too soon. It has previously cautioned against encouraging returns too soon.
On the fifth day of the operation, a Turkish soldier was killed in clashes with Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
With ISIL driven from the border in relatively quick fashion and with United States assurances that its YPG allies had indeed withdrawn east of the Euphrates, Turkey seemed to have largely achieved its goals. Ankara sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK which is fighting an insurgency on Turkish soil. But like Turkey’s fight for Jarabulus and towns on the Syrian border, the battle for Raqqa carries more significance for Mr Erdogan than the removal of ISIL.
Erdogan told journalists aboard a plane as he returned from a G-20 meeting that the issue was brought up by U.S. President Barack Obama during the meetings in China.
Canikli said that 110 enemy forces had been killed in the Turkish operation so far, including both IS and YPG fighters.
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US officials have welcomed Turkish efforts to dislodge Islamic State but voiced concern when Turkish troops engaged fighters aligned with the Kurdish YPG militia, a force Washington sees as a valuable ally in battling jihadists.
