WASHINGTON, Dec 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Any unilateral military action in
northern Syria would be “unacceptable,” the Pentagon warned Wednesday after
Turkey said it would soon launch an operation against a US-backed Kurdish
militia.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would begin the operation
“within days” to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which
Ankara considers a “terrorist offshoot” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK),
“Unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party,
particularly as US personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave
concern,” Pentagon spokesman Commander Sean Robertson said in a statement.
“We would find any such actions unacceptable.”
American forces have worked closely with the YPG under the Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, which has played a key role in the
war against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
American forces are with the SDF east of the Euphrates as well as in the
flashpoint city of Manbij, which is west of the river.
“Coordination and consultation between the US and Turkey is the only
approach to address issues of security concern in this area,” Robertson said.
“We are committed to working closely and recently held a high level working
group on Syria with our Turkish partners precisely to enhance our
cooperation, coordination, and consultation.”
The Pentagon has repeatedly warned that any fighting between the Turks and
the SDF would be a dangerous distraction from the core US mission in Syria of
fighting IS.
“We should not and cannot allow (IS) to breathe at this critical point or
we will jeopardize the significant gains we have made alongside our coalition
partners and risk allowing (IS) to resurge,” Robertson said.
The Pentagon on Tuesday said American observation posts in northern Syria,
meant to prevent altercations between the Turkish army and the YPG, have been
erected, despite Ankara’s request to scrap the move.