Turkish forces roll into northern Syria

U.S. warplanes aid offensive, help rebels take ISIS-held town

Vice President Joe Biden, meeting Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, said he wanted “to make it unmistakably clear that the United States stands with our ally, Turkey.”
Vice President Joe Biden, meeting Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, said he wanted “to make it unmistakably clear that the United States stands with our ally, Turkey.”

ISTANBUL -- Turkey sent tanks, warplanes and special operations forces into northern Syria on Wednesday, enabling Syrian rebels to capture an important Islamic State stronghold within hours.

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Turkish tanks and Syrian opposition forces backed by Turkey move toward the Syrian border Wednesday in the assault on Islamic State forces in the city of Jarablus. Officials said Islamic State fighters retreated quickly when Turkish troops crossed the border.

The operation, assisted by U.S. warplanes, is an escalation of Turkey's role in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group, ensconced in parts of Syria and Iraq.

By evening, Syrian rebel fighters declared that they had taken control of the town of Jarablus and its surroundings, which had been the militant group's last major holding near the Turkish border, along a vital supply line. Turkish officials said one rebel fighter was killed but no Turkish troops died.

"There wasn't much resistance at all from ISIS forces and they retreated even faster after Turkish troops marched across the border," said Ahmed al-Gader, a rebel fighter speaking from Jarablus, using an acronym for the Islamic State. "We have taken over the main buildings of the town and things are very quiet now."

Numerous fighters posted photographs and videos of themselves online with the green, black and white flag adopted by the Syrian opposition as they walked through what appeared to be empty streets, passing buildings still flying the flag of the Islamic State.

At the White House, President Barack Obama's chief spokesman, Josh Earnest, called the Turkish assault "an indication of important progress" in the campaign against the Islamic State group.

Jarablus was the last of the many Syrian-Turkish border crossings once controlled by the Islamic State, and its loss will significantly curtail the flow of foreign fighters and supplies to Islamic State territories elsewhere, including its self-styled capital, Raqqa, said U.S. military spokesman Col. John Dorrian.

Earlier, Vice President Joe Biden signaled support for the goals of the operation -- clearing Islamic State militants from their remaining border stronghold and rolling back recent advances by Syrian Kurdish militias, which Turkey considers its primary enemy.

Biden had traveled Wednesday to the Turkish capital, Ankara, to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a time of tensions between the two countries after the failed coup in Turkey last month. But the timing of the joint offensive and some strong words of support from Biden seemed to show an easing of the strains.

Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, Biden said the Kurdish militias, an important U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State, would have to meet a Turkish demand by withdrawing to the eastern side of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria.

"We have made it clear to Kurdish forces that they must move back across the river," he said. "They cannot and will not get American support if they do not keep that commitment. Period."

Photos from Town

The operation started at 4 a.m., officials said, with Turkish and U.S. warplanes pounding Islamic State positions in Jarablus. Then, about 20 Turkish tanks, a team of Turkish special forces and hundreds of Syrian rebels surged across the border, according to Turkish media and Syrian opposition activists.

Mere hours later, the rebels burst into Jarablus, posting photos from the town's center. Islamic State militants withdrew apparently without a fight, retreating to the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab farther south.

About 1,500 Syrian opposition fighters were involved, said Ahmad al-Khatib, an activist embedded with the rebels. The fighters came from the U.S.-backed Hamza brigade, as well as rebel groups fighting government forces in Aleppo, such as the Nour el-Din el Zinki brigade, the Levant Front, and Failaq al-Sham. Fighters from the powerful and ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham brigade were also present, he said.

Turkey also moved to increase security measures on its border with Syria, establishing a "special security zone" and urging residents to evacuate, after at least nine mortar shells from Jarablus landed in the Turkish border town of Karkamis.

In the evening, Erdogan announced that rebels had retaken the town, saying they seized "government and official residences." He spoke alongside Biden, who said Washington backed the offensive with airstrikes, adding, "We believe very strongly that the Turkish border should be controlled by Turkey."

The assault came days after Turkey vowed to "cleanse" its borders of the Islamic State, after a deadly suicide attack at a Kurdish wedding, which killed at least 54 people. The militant group was blamed for the attack.

The Turkish government has long insisted that the Syrian president, Bashar Assad -- who is backed by Iran and Russia -- would have to step down before peace talks could be held. But lately, Turkey has softened its stance, signaling that it would accept a role for Assad during a political transition.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned Turkey's operation Wednesday as a "blatant violation" of Syria's sovereignty. Russia said it was "deeply concerned."

Turkey has signaled in recent days that it is prepared to take a more aggressive diplomatic role in Syria, working alongside Iran, Russia and the United States to seek an end to the war.

Concerns over Kurds

Although U.S. warplanes joined the Turkish forces in Jarablus, the operation masked severe tensions between the two NATO allies over Syria.

Turkish officials, including the foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned that their country could ultimately end up fighting the Syrian Kurds if they do not temper their territorial ambitions.

Some Kurds want to establish a new autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria adjoining the Turkish border.

When the U.S. backed a group of fighters, mostly Syrian Kurds, in retaking the city of Manbij, not far from Jarablus, it was on condition that Kurdish forces withdrew back across the river after the city was won -- something that has not happened.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that in Biden's talks in Ankara, the two sides reached agreement that the Syrian Kurdish forces "should never spread west of the Euphrates and not enter any kind of activity there."

To allay Turkish concerns, U.S. officials warned the Kurds against advancing on Jarablus and said they would not support a move on the city with U.S. air power.

Turkish officials indicated that the operation Wednesday sought, in part, to warn Kurds working in Syria alongside U.S. special operations forces against marching on Jarablus. Cavusoglu warned that the Kurdish militias must move east of the Euphrates River, away from the Turkish border, and back to where they had long controlled a stretch of territory.

"If they fail to do so, we will do what is necessary," he said.

Officials in Ankara consider Kurdish territorial ambitions a threat to national security.

The Kurdish militias have captured large areas across the border, and analysts say that a Kurdish advance toward Jarablus could lead to a confrontation with Turkey.

"Turkey is determined for Syria to retain its territorial integrity and will take matters into its own hands if required to protect that territorial unity," Erdogan said in a speech Wednesday in Ankara. "We have only ever sought to help the people of Syria and have no other intentions."

Biden Reassures Ally

In affirming support for Turkey's established government after last month's coup attempt, Biden sought to reassure Erdogan that the two countries remain allies.

Anti-American sentiment has reached a fever pitch in Turkey, as pro-government news outlets and government officials have sought to link the United States with the coup plot. Turkey accuses Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric in self-exile in Pennsylvania, of leading the coup plot.

"I want to make it unmistakably clear that the United States stands with our ally, Turkey," Biden said after an hours-long meeting with Erdogan. "Our support is absolute and it is unwavering. This attempted coup was an attack on the people of Turkey, not just the government."

Biden is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Turkey since the failed coup. Before the Erdogan meeting, he held talks with Yildirim, the prime minister, and toured the Turkish parliament building damaged in the July 15 violence. He repeatedly voiced support for Turkey -- a crucial ally in the fight against the Islamic State group -- and its leadership.

"I'm saddened by the unconscionable attack in an attempt to take down Turkish democracy," Biden said in a joint news conference with Yildirim. "The United States was shocked at the violation of the fundamental democratic principles both our nations cherish."

Biden also called the coup's perpetrators "terrorists" and offered an apology and condolences for "for the suffering and loss you have endured."

Turkey is demanding Gulen's extradition, and Erdogan has suggested that the failure to hand over the cleric is damaging the U.S.-Turkey security partnership. The Obama administration says it must follow an established judicial process and that the final decision will be up to an independent U.S. court.

Information for this article was contributed by Tim Arango, Anne Barnard, Ceylan Yeginsu, Hwaida Saad, Maher Samaan, Michael D. Shear and Eric Schmitt of The New York Times; by Suzan Fraser, Zeina Karam, Philip Issa, Sarah El Deeb, Albert Aji and Robert Burns of The Associated Press; by Erin Cunningham, Karen DeYoung, Liz Sly, Heba Habib and Zakaria Zakaria of The Washington Post; and by Justin Sink, Onur Ant and Benjamin Harvey of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 08/25/2016

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