US Gives Endorsement for Turkish Incursion into Syria
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The White House said US President Donald Trump has given his endorsement for a Turkish military incursion into northern Syria, targeting Kurdish YPG fighters.
US Administration officials said that Trump spoke directly with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on the issue on Sunday. And the officials indicated that the 100 to 150 United States military personnel deployed to that area would be pulled back in advance of any Turkish operation but that they would not be completely withdrawn from Syria, the New York Times reported.
“Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria,” the White House said in a statement released just before 11 p.m. in Washington.
“The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces will no longer be in the immediate area.”
It was unclear how extensive the Turkish operation would be, or whether Turkish forces would clash with the American-backed Kurds.
Turkey seeks to establish a 32-kilometer “safe zone” in northern Syria, and has stressed that it wants the YPG cleared from the region.
Neither Turkey nor the US has authorization from the Syrian government for their activities in the Arab country.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently voiced doubts whether joints efforts with the US to form the so-called safe zone in northeast Syria would ever produce the expected results.
The Damascus government has slammed the agreement, condemning it as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as international law.
