Kerry gave these reassurances in a phone call to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, saying that the US will continue to coordinate with Turkey militarily against ISIS.
A senior Turkish official said the conversation included a discussion on the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG).
“During the phone talk, the issue of the need for the PYD/YPG forces also came up,” a senior Turkish official told Hurriyet news, on condition of anonymity.
“Kerry has emphasized that PYD/YPG forces have been withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates,” the official added.
The spokesperson for the US military’s anti-ISIS operation, Operation Inherent Resolve, confirmed on Twitter that the Kurdish forces, as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were withdrawing to focus on the liberation of Raqqa, ISIS’ de facto capital in Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have moved east across the Euphrates to prepare for the eventual liberation of Raqqa, Syria #defeatdaesh
— OIR Spokesperson (@OIRSpox) August 25, 2016
The issue arose after US Vice President Joe Biden, during a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara on Wednesday, called on the YPG to withdraw from areas west of the Euphrates, honouring a commitment Washington had made to Ankara that Kurdish forces would participate in the liberation of the northern Syrian city of Manbij but would not remain in areas they retook from ISIS.
Kurdish forces “must move back across the Euphrates River,” Biden said. “They cannot, will not, under any circumstance get American support if they do not keep that commitment.”
Spokesperson for the YPG, Redur Xelil, responded on Wednesday, saying that they would not withdraw. “Turkey cannot impose its own agenda, its own interests on us. Our forces are there. We will not withdraw from west of the Euphrates. No one has the right to ask the YPG to leave the area.”
The United States has repeatedly said that the YPG is a key ally on the ground in Syria in the war against ISIS, despite Turkey’s protests and accusations that by working with the YPG, the US is allied with a terrorist group. Turkey considers the YPG as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a named terrorist organization.
The Americans’ demand, therefore, that the Kurds retreat has led to questions about whether the US is abandoning the Kurds in favour of Ankara.
This was put to Elizabeth Trudeau, Department of State spokesperson, during the department’s daily press briefing on Wednesday.
“I would dispute views that they feel – that they’re being abandoned. We have been very clear on our support. These have been tremendous fighters against our common enemy, which is Daesh [ISIS], on this,” Trudeau answered. “As I’ve said, we remain in close contact with both the Turks as well as local Kurdish commanders on this. It’s a complex issue. It’s a fast-moving issue.”
She went on to stress that state department officials had been working to redirect the focus of both Turkey and the Kurds way from “this infighting” and back to the fight against “the common enemy, which is Daesh.”
Turkey opposes both ISIS and the YPG forces. Ankara’s goal in crossing its border with Syria was to cleanse the border of “all terrorist elements, including Daesh [ISIS] and YPG,” tweeted presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin on Wednesday.
Before Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield to push ISIS militants from Jarablus on Wednesday, it targeted YPG positions north of Manbij with artillery on Monday.
Kerry’s reassurances about the YPG withdrawal come as at least another nine tanks entered Syrian territory, bringing the total number of Turkish tanks on Syrian territory to over 20.
Reuters witnessed these additional tanks entering Turkey and it quoted a Turkish official as saying that more construction machinery is being deployed to the border to "open up roads."
“We also have armored personnel carriers that could be used on the Syrian side (of the border). We may put them into service as needed,” said the official.
While Turkey continues to beef up its military presence in Syria, they have threatened the Kurdish forces if they do not return to the eastern side of the Euphrates River. “If this withdrawal doesn’t happen, Turkey has every right to intervene,” Fikri Isik, Turkey’s defense minister, told NTV television on Thursday.
Isik added that they were closely monitoring the Kurdish forces and had not yet seen any sign that they were withdrawing.
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