ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed “strong opposition” to Ankara’s latest military operation in Syria in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart on Wednesday, adding that escalation posed a threat to American personnel.
The phone call with Hulusi Akar comes a day after the Pentagon called for restraint, stating that a ground offensive would destabilize the region and “severely jeopardize” progress made in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Turkey launched its latest aerial campaign dubbed Operation Claw-Sword targeting Kurdish positions in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region on November 20. The operation has led to a barrage of dozens of drones and airstrikes targeting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which presents a danger to US personnel as they maintain a presence in the proximity of the area. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that a ground operation would take place “soon.”
“Secretary Austin called for de-escalation, and shared the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria,” a statement from the Pentagon said of the phone call with Akar.
Austin also “expressed concern” over the escalation in northern Syria and Turkey “including recent airstrikes, some of which directly threatened the safety of U.S. personnel.”
The SDF, a key US ally, was the primary force that defeated ISIS in Syria in 2019, reclaiming swathes of territory from the terror group as their backbone - the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - received worldwide recognition for their successful resistance to ISIS as the terror group pounded on the northern Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane in 2014.
The Syrian representative at the United Nations on Tuesday blasted Turkey for repeatedly violating its sovereignty and accused the country of sponsoring extremist organizations. AFP reported on Wednesday that Russia had deployed troop reinforcements to Kurdish-controlled Tal Rifaat in Aleppo, adding that locals claim Russian forces set up roadblocks separating the area from Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies. This could be an attempt to fend off an imminent Turkish ground operation.
Kurdish forces have urged both Russia and the US to stop Turkey from launching a ground offensive.
The Turkish operation came a few days after a TNT-laden bomb killed six people and injured 81 others in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul. Turkish authorities have blamed the PKK and YPG but both groups have strongly rejected the accusation.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Tuesday that the death toll from the recent Turkish military escalation has risen to 83 people, including 30 SDF members, 30 Syrian army soldiers, and ten civilians.
