U.S. Secretary for Defense Mark Esper, June 26, 2019. Photo: AP
TOKYO,— The United States warned Tuesday that any “unilateral” offensive by Turkey to remove a Kurdish militia in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) would be “unacceptable” and vowed to step up talks to prevent such action.
“Clearly we believe any unilateral action by them would be unacceptable,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters on a trip through Asia.
“And so what we are trying to do now is work out with them an arrangement to address their concerns and I am hopeful we will get there… what we are trying to do is prevent unilateral incursions,” said Esper.
Esper’s comments came two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to launch an operation in Kurdish northern Syria east of the Euphrates River against the US-backed Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara views as a terrorist group.
Last-ditch talks are ongoing between US defence officials and their Turkish counterparts aimed at creating a “safe zone” in northern Syria to keep the YPG away from Turkey’s border.
A top Kurdish political official in Syrian Kurdistan on Monday warned neighbouring Turkey would attack at the first chance it got, despite US efforts to prevent a cross-border incursion.
“Erdogan is serious and will embark on an attack at the first opportunity” against Kurdish fighters in Syrian Kurdistan, Aldar Khalil told AFP.
“If Turkey is not deterred and a consensus is not reached for an international decision to prevent it, it will definitely be on the offensive,” the Kurdish official said.
On Monday, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the United States should end its partnership with the Kurdish YPG altogether.
Turkey has launched two previous offenses into Syria against the Kurdish YPG, in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
In 2016, the Turkish troops entered northern Syria in an area some 100 km east of Afrin to stop the Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.
In January 2018, Turkish military forces backed pro-Ankara Syrian mercenary fighters to clear the YPG from its northwestern enclave of Afrin. In March 2018, the operation was completed with the capture of the Kurdish city of Afrin.
The flags of Turkey and Syrian rebel groups were raised in the Kurdish Afrin city and a statue of Kurdish hero Kawa, a symbol of resistance against oppressors, was torn down.
Residents of the Kurdish city and Human right groups accuse Turkey and pro-Ankara fighters of kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies and torture.
In 2013, the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD — the political branch of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — has established three autonomous Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013. On March 17, 2016, Kurdish authorities announced the creation of a “federal region” made up of those semi-autonomous regions in Syrian Kurdistan.
Washington has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). But U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced the pullout from Syria.
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed “100%” with keeping a military presence in Syria. U.S. said in February to leave some 400 U.S. troops in Syria over the longer run. 200 troops to remain in the Syrian Kurdistan in the northeast as part of a multinational force and 200 to remain at an outpost in al-Tanf in southern Syria.
The Kurdish PYD and its powerful military wing YPG/YPJ, considered the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and U.S. has provided them with arms. The YPG, which is the backbone of the SDF forces, has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces expelled the Islamic State group from its last patch of territory in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz in March 2019.
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