The US will stop Turkey invading Syria, says the Pentagon after Erdogan’s threat to attack America’s Kurdish allies
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened an attack to push back SDF
- American and Turkish officials have met today to address security concerns
- US Defence Secretary Mark Esper believes progress is being made on key issues
- America is worried that incursion could set ISIS foreign fighters free
American officials said on Tuesday that the US would prevent any invasion from Turkey into northern Syria, suggesting such a move would be unacceptable.
On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, threatened an attack in the northeast to push back the US-allied Syrian Kurdish Forces (SDF).
American and Turkish military officials have been meeting in Ankara to try and negotiate a settlement to avoid the invasion.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said that he believes the two countries have made progress on some of the key issues.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pictured here addressing his supporters on Sunday in Bursa, Turkey. The president told followers that time was up for waiting for a safe zone between Syria and Turkey. ‘So far, we have been patient. But that patience has its limits,’ he said
US officials have made clear that an invasion is a risky venture that could threaten the safety of US forces working with the SDF and risk the strides made in defeating ISIS.
‘What we’re going to do is prevent unilateral incursions that would upset, again, these mutual interests that the United States, Turkey and the SDF share with regard to northern Syria,’ Esper told reporters traveling with him to Japan.
He said the US is trying to work out an arrangement that addresses Turkey’s concerns, adding, ‘I’m hopeful we’ll get there.’
He did not provide details on where progress is being made.
President Erdogan’s threat to invade the northeast of Syria has been met with a promise from US officials this would be prevented. The US Secretary of Defence told reporters he was travelling with to Japan that America would not abandon the SDF
The dispute further weakens US relations with NATO ally Turkey, coming closely on the heels of the Trump administration’s decision to remove Ankara from the American-led F-35 fighter aircraft program because it is buying a Russian air defense system that would aid Moscow’s intelligence.
The US government’s concern is that the Russian S-400 system could be used to gather data on the capabilities of the F-35, and that the information could end up in Russian hands.
Esper said the US will not abandon its SDF allies.
Hundreds of US troops are stationed east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria working with the SDF, and an incursion by Turkey could put them in the middle of any firefight between Turkish and Kurdish forces.
Syrian Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, are the key element of the SDF.
Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters a threat to its stability and has been at war with a closely linked organisation within its own borders for decades. The SDF, however, has been America’s closest ally in the Syrian conflict
Turkey considers the YPG an existential threat and as terrorists with close links to a decades-long insurgency within its own border led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The SDF, however, has been America’s main partner on the ground against the Islamic State group, and the Kurds are currently detaining thousands of foreign fighters. US officials worry that those fighters could be set free during a Turkish invasion into the Kurdish-held territory.
Turkey and the US have been negotiating for months over the establishment of a safe zone along the Syrian border that would extend east of the Euphrates to Iraq.
Turkey wants to establish a 25-mile-deep zone. But so far the two sides have failed to reach an agreement.
Esper said Turkey is a long-standing ally and the US is taking this one day at a time. And he suggested that the SDF issue is not new and is markedly different than an ally buying a Russian-made air defense system that could threaten an American aircraft.
‘We’ve all seen this before. They have long-standing concerns about the PKK,’ said Esper.
‘That’s why we want to work with them to address their legitimate security concerns going forward.’