Tension Grows Between United States And Turkey Over Syria

The war in Syria took on a new dimension with the recent military operation of Turkey against the Kurdish independence militias supported by the United States. 

The two largest military forces of NATO face each other.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised on Thursday that Turkey’s operation against a Kurdish militia in northern Syria will continue as long as necessary, after a conversation with his parliamentarian Donald Trump failed to ease tensions with the United States. 


Tension grows between the United States and Turkey over Syria
With the operation launched on Saturday against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Turkey, an ally of the United States in NATO, is attacking a Washington-backed force, which sparked fears of a military confrontation between the two powers.

After Presidents Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke Wednesday night, the White House indicated that the US president urged Turkey to “reduce and limit military actions” and asked him to avoid “any action that could provoke a confrontation between the Turkish and American forces. “

But Ankara rejected Thursday’s suggestions of Washington, saying that “President Trump did not express concern about an escalation of violence” in Afrin, but alluded to “the need to limit the duration of the Turkish operation,” according to official sources. Turkish

This crossing of statements illustrates the depth that separates the two countries with respect to the YPG. 

The militia, linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged military actions against Turkey since 1984, is considered a “terrorist” organisation by Ankara.

On his first visit of troops to the south of the Turkish border region of Hatay since Saturday, Erdogan emphasised on Thursday that the operation “Rama de Olivo” “will continue until the result is achieved.”

 TO THE “EAST OF THE EUPHRATES” 
Erdogan, quoted by the Turkish presidency, said that once the “terrorist cleansing” ends in Afrin, the area will turn over to its “main residents”.

“Turkey does not have its sights set on another territory of the country,” he added.

“The second phase will be Manbij,” a town controlled also by the YPG east of Afrin in which there is an US military presence, “and after that, the east of the [river] Euphrates,” said Ilnur Cevik, councilor President Erdogan.

Afrin local authorities on Thursday called on the Syrian government to intervene to prevent Turkish aviation from flying over the canton.

“The Syrian State should face this aggression and declare that it will not allow Turkish aircraft to fly over Syrian airspace,” said Othman Al Sheikh Isa, co-chairman of the Executive Council of Afrin Canton.

Shortly before, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement that Turkey has the right to defend itself, but that has to be done “in a proportionate and measured manner.”

Washington has the YPG to fight the Islamic State (IS) group on the ground and does not plan to get rid of them at a time when the jihadists are in military decline.

For its part, Ankara relies on the ground for its offensive in Afrin in several Syrian rebel groups, most of them members of the Islamist movements, which accuse the Kurdish militias of dividing Syria by establishing its own entity in the north of the country.

The offensive raises concerns of several countries. Germany on Thursday asked NATO to open debates on the operation.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that if the United States wants to “avoid a confrontation with Turkey – what neither they nor Turkey wish – the way forward is clear: they must end their support for the terrorists.”

“RESTORE CONFIDENCE” 
A Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday that the US and Turkish military were debating the possibility of creating a “security zone” on the Turkish border, but that at the moment it was “just an idea.”

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Cavusoglu, had evoked this option shortly before, referring to a 30 km deep mattress zone. But he said that, before debating, it was necessary to restore confidence “between Ankara and Washington.

While the Turkish offensive is on its sixth day, a new round of negotiations on Syria is being held in Vienna on Thursday.

Since Saturday, more than 90 YPG fighters and Syrian rebel groups have died, as have 30 civilians, most of them in Turkish bombings, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH). Ankara refuses to have attacked civilians.

The Turkish army lamented three dead among its ranks.