Turkish Forces Amass near Syrian Border Town
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish army forces amassed near the border town in north-eastern Syria on Monday evening, according to a report.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the Turkish army on Monday evening “launched an assault on a number of areas in Hasaka northeastern countryside.”
The agency added the reported information indicates that the aggression aimed for a site near Simalka illegitimate corridor on the Turkish-Syrian-Iraqi borders and Tal Tawil in the countryside of al-Malkiya area where Qasad Kurdish militias (SDF forces) are positioned.
The report also said that the aggression caused only material damages, and no casualties were reported.
US Administration officials said Monday that President Donald Trump spoke directly with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on endorsing for a Turkish military incursion into northern Syria 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deployed to that area would be pulled back in advance of any Turkish operation but that they would not be completely withdrawn from Syria, The New York Times reported.
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.
