ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US and Turkish officials say that Ankara unilaterally launched its operation in Syria last Wednesday, without first informing Washington.
US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal said Turkey, a NATO ally, acted unilaterally because it wanted to attack the Syrian Kurdish forces near their northwest border south of Jarablus.
This was a surprise to Washington, since both powers had planned to coordinate such an offensive against ISIS on the northwestern Syrian border since as early as the spring of 2015. That plan was shelved, however, following Russia’s intervention in the Syrian conflict.
The rapprochement with Russia over the summer and the continued advance of Syrian Kurdish-led forces, following their capture of Manbij from ISIS, compelled Turkey to act when it did. However, US officials cited by the Journal say the Kurdish forces Washington had backed had not planned to advance on Jarablus next.
The US was considering -- after an August 20 attack on a Gaziantep wedding celebration left 54 people dead -- a Turkish request to send in 40 US commandos to support the efforts. It also was looking into coordinating Turkish-backed Syrian militiamen and calling in supporting airstrikes. However, the US wanted more assurances that its forces would not be captured or killed by al-Qaeda-linked forces in that area.
While the US wanted more time for Ankara to consider the requests, Turkey went ahead with the operation without telling Washington. US military forces in the region shortly thereafter jumped in to give the Turks air support with drones and warplanes based at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase.
Clashes between the Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led Washington to call on both allies to stand down, since it did not want two of its partners in the war against Islamic State (ISIS) to be fighting against each other rather than the militants.
Washington also said it will continue to give air support to Turkish forces moving west of Jarablus against ISIS, but will not give air cover to Turkish forces going south of Jarablus against Syrian Kurdish forces.
The Syrian-Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) have been the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The US has warned the Syrian Kurdish forces to withdraw to east side of the Euphrates River, or otherwise risk losing Washington’s support.
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