Turkey says US asked it to ‘reevaluate’ ground operation in Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday that his American counterpart Lloyd Austin asked him on the phone the prior day to “reevaluate” Ankara’s expected ground offensive against Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
Turkey on November 20 launched its latest aerial campaign, dubbed Operation Claw-Sword, targeting the positions of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region. Ankara later expanded the operation to most parts of northeast Syria, mainly hitting the infrastructure of the region, especially oil and gas fields. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that a ground operation would take place “soon.”
Austin said in a tweet on Wednesday that during the phone call with Akra he “shared my concern over Turkish strikes in Syria, and the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation there.”
Akar told his country’s state-owned Anadolu Agency on Thursday that his American counterpart asked Turkey to rethink its plan to carry out a ground operation in Syria.
"They asked us to reevaluate [the ground operation]. We also explained our sensitivities and wanted the promises to be kept. We stressed that they should understand us," said the Turkish minister.
During the Turkish latest aerial operation, dozens of drones and airstrikes have targeted the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions, which presents a danger to US personnel as they maintain a presence in the proximity of the area.
Mazloum Abdi, General Commander of the SDF, warned earlier this week that Turkey is making preparation on the border for the planned ground campaign.
“Regarding the ground operation, they [Turkey] insist on going ahead with it. We know that they are preparing for that. They are also preparing Syrian groups which have invaded [parts] of the region for the offensive,” he told reporters during an online press conference on Tuesday.
Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s top advisor and spokesperson, told a pro-government broadcaster on Tuesday that the ground operation in Syria “could happen tomorrow, next week, earlier, later, or at any moment.”
The US is the main backer of the SDF in the fight against ISIS. The SDF has suspended military activities against ISIS in order to focus on defending its territories from Turkish aggression.
Akar also told the Turkish state media that they have given “necessary warning” to their “allied countries” not to support the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - backbone of the SDF - at all “including the pretext of fighting Daesh\ISIS.”
He added that if these countries help the Kurdish forces it will make it difficult for Turkish forces to distinguish the troops of these states from the YPG fighters.
The global coalition against ISIS was formed in 2014, supporting Kurdish forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the Kurdistan Region as well as Iraqi forces in the fight against the radical group.
Turkey claims that the YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but designated as a terrorist group by Ankara. Turkish authorities have claimed that these groups pose a threat to its national security, demanding the establishment of a 30-km-deep “security zone” in northern Syria.
Ankara has carried out three major military operations against the SDF in Syria since 2016, invading several Kurdish towns, such as Afrin.