Turkish Leader Ignores US On Syrian Offensive
Recep Tayyip
Erdogan vowed the offensive would continue until the Islamic State group and
the Kurdish Syrian fighters no longer posed a threat to Turkey.
US President
Barack Obama is due to meet him next Sunday in China on the sidelines of a G20
summit.
Turkey began its
cross-border offensive late last week, with its tanks, artillery and warplanes
backing Syrian rebels as they captured the town of Jarablus from Islamic State.
A monitoring
group said 41 people were killed by Turkish airstrikes on Sunday, but Turkey
denied any civilian casualties.
Mr Erdogan said
on Monday: "The Jarablus operation was a reflection of our determination.
"Our
operations will continue until terror organisations such as Daesh (Islamic
State), the PKK and its Syrian arm, the YPG, cease to be threats for our
citizens."
When the
campaign was launched, Turkey's leaders said the aim was to target terrorists
of Islamic State and the Kurdish-dominated militia.
With Kurdish
fighters quickly capturing land along Syria's border with Turkey, however, the
Turkish incursion was also to prevent any further Kurdish gains.
Turkey sees the
Kurdish YPG militia as an extension of the illegal Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK).
Along with the
US, Turkey is an important member of NATO but the Kurdish fighters it is
attacking are a major part of the US fight against IS, which is led by the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The US,
concerned that the focus of battle has shifted away from Islamic State, has
objected to the fighting between Turkey and some opposition groups in northern
Syria.
Brett McGurk,
special presidential envoy for the coalition to counter IS, said: "We want
to make clear that we find these clashes - in areas where ISIL (IS) is not
located - unacceptable and a source of deep concern."
Quoting a
briefing by the Department of Defense, he added: "We call on all armed
actors to stand down...the US is actively engaged to facilitate such
deconfliction and unity of focus on ISIL, which remains a lethal and common
threat."
Sky's Foreign
Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the US statement showed "considerable unease
- I would say considerable anger - at the focus of the Turkish operations,
which have been entirely against the Americans' close allies in the Kurdish-led
militia".
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