US, Turkey continue joint patrols in northeast Syria despite Erdogan’s threats
A statement on Friday by the SDF’s coordination and military operation center read, “Today was the 3rd Joint Ground Patrol for US and Turkey in the security mechanism area. This patrol can see the good faith actions of the SDF.”
“The SDF is working closely with the Coalition to keep the people in the security mechanism safe,” it added.
According to Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East security analyst at the Center for a New American Security, Turkey’s security concerns in northeastern Syria are being addressed fully by the US-led Coalition and the SDF.
“The warmongering rhetoric coming from Ankara is not only unnecessary, unfounded, and unhelpful to the effort to defeat ISIS, it befits a warmongering bully, not an ally,” he told Kurdistan 24.
When asked about the Turkish threats on Thursday, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Spokesperson Colonel Patrick Ryder declined to comment “other than to say that we continue to implement the security mechanism.”
“We continue to see YPG fortifications being dismantled with the SDF and – and so that again shows a good base effort on the SDF’s part to help implement this mechanism.”
NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Tod Wolters on Thursday also addressed the joint patrols, describing them as “very, very effective,” but adding, “We’ve still got a long ways to go.”
“Turkey is a very, very important partner from a NATO perspective,” he said. “And what they do to enhance the security disposition on the continent remains very, very productive.”
Editing by John J. Catherine