U.S. won’t send more troops to northern Syria for joint Turkish patrols

2019-09-14 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News

Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, 2018. Photo: U.S. DoD

BAGHDAD,— The U.S. military will not increase troop levels in Syria to carry out joint patrols with Turkish forces, a top general said on Friday, adding that his goal was to eventually reduce the number of U.S. forces in the country.

U.S. troop levels in Syria, which number around 1,000, have been under intense scrutiny since President Donald Trump last year ordered their complete withdrawal – only to later be convinced to leave some forces behind to ensure that Islamic State militants cannot stage a comeback.

In March 2019 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 Kurdish northeast as part of a multinational force and 200 to remain at an outpost in al-Tanf in southern Syria.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Pentagon was preparing to send about 150 troops to conduct ground patrols with Turkish forces.

But Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the new mission would not require additional forces in the country.

“We’re not going to increase our footprint on the ground in order to conduct those patrols,” McKenzie said during a trip to Baghdad, while acknowledging that troop levels can fluctuate as forces rotate into and out of Syria.

“We’re going to do patrolling with the Turks (and) we’ll manage that within the current number while actively seeking opportunities to get smaller over time.”

Turkey wants to clear its border of Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it labels as a terrorist organization. But the YPG has been a main U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, infuriating Turkey and straining ties with Washington.

The Kurdish PYD party 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 Kurdish forces expelled the Islamic State from its last patch of territory in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz in March 2019.

As a way to address Turkish concerns, the United States has started carrying out the joint patrols with Ankara, with the first land patrol on Sunday and the fourth joint overflight of the area on Thursday.

But, at least so far, the joint patrols appear to have failed to satisfy demands from Ankara, which wants the operations to expand rapidly as far as 20 miles (32 km) from its border to create a safe zone controlled by Turkish troops.

On Tuesday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Washington of stalling and taking only “cosmetic steps.”

Turkey fears the creation of a Kurdish autonomous region or Kurdish state in Syrian Kurdistan could encourage separatism amongst its own Kurds, according to analysts.

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 and Arab authorities announced the creation of a “federal region” made up of those semi-autonomous regions in Syrian Kurdistan.

Turkey and the United States have been at loggerheads over a host of issues in recent months, including Ankara’s acquisition of Russian air defence systems. That led the Pentagon to kick the NATO ally out of a major U.S. fighter jet program.

Turkey has relied heavily on President Tayyip Erdogan’s personal ties with Trump to manage tensions. Erdogan and Trump are due to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month to discuss developments in Syria, trade and other bilateral issues.

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