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U.S. backs Operation Euphrates Shield, State Department spokesperson says

But there was no immediate comment from U.S. officials.

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An operation in Raqqa would entail an expansion of co-operation on Syria between Turkey and the United States, Nato allies whose relations have been strained over policies on Syria.

Russia, who is allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it was deeply concerned by the Turkish advance. Turkey, at least until recently, was more intent on ousting Mr al-Assad.

Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey can expand the scope of military operations in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey can’t launch a military operation in Syria’s Raqqa on its own, Anadolu Agency quoted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying September 8.

Erdogan and President Barack Obama briefly discussed a joint invasion of Raqqa during the G20 summit in China last weekend.

“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. We said this would not be a problem from our perspective, ” he said, stressing, “More discussions would follow”.

Another Syrian refugee named Hazune Ali said that she came to Turkey two years ago as her spouse contributed to the resistance in Syria. In view of the growing animosity, Turkey’s move to attack YPG in the northern Syria can be seen as an attempt to prevent the creation of an autonomous Kurdish territory along its border with Syria.

Turkey and the United States are already at odds over control of another town, Manbij, some 30 km (20 miles) south of the Turkish border, which was captured last month from Islamic State by a US -backed coalition that includes the YPG.

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Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army forces were able to easily recapture Jarablus on the first day of Euphrates Shield, and Syrians on September 7 started returning to the city from Turkey, a little over two weeks after it was liberated from DAESH.

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