ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with the US Special Representative for Syria Engagement, Amb. James Jeffrey, to discuss issues in Syria, including US support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The US readout focused on Idlib.
“Syrian latest developments and the discomfort created by the presence of PKK/PYD/YPG terror organization were discussed during the meeting,” read a readout from the Turkish defense ministry.
The armed wing of the PYD, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), comprise much of the SDF, the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition’s partnered ground force in Syria.
Turkey conflates the YPG with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The YPG deny any organic links to the PKK, which has fought a four-decades long struggle for greater political, cultural, and minority rights in Turkey.
The statement added that Akar has told the US envoy that Turkey will defend its ‘rights and interests’ in the region and that Kurdish forces have to “abandon the region.”
Ankara claims the YPG haven’t fully withdrawn from Manbij, west of the Euphrates. Turkish and US forces are currently conducting “coordinated but separate” patrols around Manbij.
The former ambassador to Turkey, Albania, and Iraq, met earlier in the week with Jordanian and Israeli officials.
The US Embassy in Turkey confirmed Jeffrey's meeting, where he discussed his "new role and underscore the importance of continued U.S.-Turkish cooperation in resolving the Syrian conflict in a manner consistent with UNSCR 2254."
Jeffrey's statement focused on the impending Russian-Iranian-Syrian offensive on Idlib and not the Kurdish forces.
"Ambassador Jeffrey reiterated the U.S. position that a Syrian military offensive in Idlib will be an escalation of the Syrian conflict that will risk the lives of humanitarian workers and Syrian civilians, destroy civilian infrastructure, imperil the prospects for a political settlement in Syria, fuel support for terrorism, and harm regional stability," it read.
Jeffrey "commended" Turkey for their "continued compassion for those affected by the Syrian conflict."
Turkey has hosted the most Syrian refugees through the conflict which began in 2011.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis has said US forces are training with Turkish counterparts in Turkey, so they can move into Phase II and conduct joint patrols in the city that was liberated by the SDF and coalition from ISIS in 2016.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talked on phone on Tuesday, reported Reuters, citing a diplomatic source.
The source has said that the phone call was on at the request of Pompeo.
According to the coalition 98 percent of the land ISIS once controlled in SDF areas has been liberated.
“We have to destroy ISIS,” Mattis said at a Pentagon press conference on August 28.
“We also have to have trained local troops who can take over. We're doing that training as we speak. As we uncover ground, the chairman's got people assigned there specifically to train the locals,” he added.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford met with his Greek counterpart in Athens on Tuesday. Their talks centered on the imminent Idlib offensive, where Turkey is supporting the Free Syrian Forces, opposition to the regime.
Updated at 9:40 p.m.
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