SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United States on Tuesday warned Turkey against launching a new military operation in northern Syria.
Spokesman of the U.S. State Department Ned Price said the uneasy NATO ally would be putting U.S. troops at risk.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would soon launch a new military operation into northern Syria to create a 30-kilometer (19-mile) safe zone along the border.
“We are deeply concerned about reports and discussions of potential increased military activity in northern Syria and, in particular, its impact on the civilian population,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, according to AFP.
“We condemn any escalation. We support maintenance of the current cease-fire lines,” he said.
Ankara has conducted three incursions into northern Syria since 2016, seizing hundreds of kilometers of land and pushing some 30 km deep into the country, in operations targeting mainly the U.S.-backed People’s Protection Units (YPG).
It has also stepped up military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq in recent years.
Turkey views both groups as a “single terrorist entity”. Its NATO allies only view the PKK as a terrorist group, not the YPG.
Turkey ordered the last incursion in October 2019 when then US president Donald Trump, following talks with Erdogan, said that US troops had accomplished their mission in Syria and would withdraw.
Amid a backlash even from some of Trump’s allies, then U.S. vice president Mike Pence flew to Turkey and reached an agreement with Erdogan that called for a pause in fighting.
“We expect Turkey to live up to the October 2019 joint statement, including to halt offensive operations in northeast Syria,” Price said.
“We recognize Turkey’s legitimate security concerns on Turkey’s southern border. But any new offensive would further undermine regional stability and put at risk US forces in the coalition’s campaign against ISIS.”
