Turkey again sets sights on Kurds

Leader aims to push U.S.-allied fighters out of Syria region

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018.

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey will open a new military operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria "within a few days," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, a move likely to further strain ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.

In recent months, Turkey has shelled Kurdish positions across the border in Syria, east of the Euphrates River, and has threatened to drive out the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units.

The People's Protection Units is the main component of a Kurdish-led militia in Syria that rolled back the Islamic State group with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. Ankara views its fighters as terrorists because of their links to the Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey. U.S. troops are deployed with the Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, in part to prevent clashes with Turkey.

"We will begin our operation to rescue the east of the Euphrates from the separatist organization within a few days," Erdogan said. "Our target is not the American soldiers, it is the terror organizations that are active in the region."

He called on the U.S. not to allow "deep" disagreements over Syria policy to impede future cooperation between the two countries.

Turkey has been incensed by American support for the Kurdish-led forces. More recently, it has been frustrated by delays in the implementation of an agreement that was reached between Washington and Ankara that would effectively push the Kurdish militia out of the key northern Syrian town of Manbij, west of the Euphrates.

"They are not being honest, they are still not removing terrorists [from Manbij]," Erdogan said. "Therefore, we will do it."

Erdogan's statement, given at a defense industry meeting, follows U.S. moves to set up observation posts in northern Syria, despite Turkey's objections. Turkey says the observation posts are aimed at protecting the People's Protection Units, while the U.S. says the posts were established to address Turkey's security concerns.

"We know that the aim of the radar and observation posts set up by the United States [east of the Euphrates] is not to protect our country from terrorists, but to protect the terrorists from Turkey," Erdogan said.

Commenting on the Erdogan remarks, a Pentagon spokesman said U.S.-Turkish coordination and consultation is the "only approach" to security matters in this area.

"Unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party, particularly as U.S. personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave concern," Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson said. "We would find any such actions unacceptable."

Robertson said uncoordinated military operations will undermine the shared U.S.-Turkish interests in security in Syria.

"The campaign against ISIS is not over," he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. "Coalition forces are working closely with the Syrian Democratic Forces who are in the midst of offensive operations against ISIS in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. The [Syrian Democratic Forces] remains a committed partner against ISIS and we remain committed to working with them to ensure ISIS's enduring defeat. We should not and cannot allow ISIS to breathe at this critical point or we will jeopardize the significant gains we have made alongside our Coalition partners and risk allowing ISIS to resurge."

Separately, an Israeli military delegation met with Russian defense officials in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria.

The military's statement on Wednesday says Israeli officers briefed Russian officials on an operation opened last week to "expose and thwart" Hezbollah attack tunnels into Israel. They also discussed "improving the two militaries' de-confliction system in the northern region."

Russia and Israel have maintained a hotline to coordinate operations and prevent aerial collisions over neighboring Syria. But in September, a Russian warplane was hit by Syrian forces responding to an Israeli air raid. All 15 people aboard were killed, and the incident strained previously close ties.

Israel frequently carries out airstrikes in Syria against Iran and its allies, in an effort to prevent sophisticated weaponry from reaching Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group.

Information for this article was contributed by Robert Burns and staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 12/13/2018

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