dunksby
08-29-2016, 01:33 PM
Turkish forces deepen push into Syria, draw U.S. rebuke over their target
Turkish-backed forces pushed deeper into northern Syria on Monday and drew a rebuke from NATO ally the United States, which said it was concerned the battle for territory had shifted away from targeting Islamic State.
At the start of Turkey's now almost week-long cross-border offensive, Turkish tanks, artillery and warplanes provided Syrian rebel allies the firepower to capture swiftly the Syrian frontier town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants.
Since then, Turkish forces have mainly pushed into areas controlled by forces aligned to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that encompasses the Kurdish YPG militia and which has been backed by Washington to fight the jihadists.
A group monitoring the tangled, five-year-old conflict in Syria said 41 people were killed by Turkish air strikes as Turkish forces pushed south on Sunday. Turkey denied there were any civilian deaths, saying 25 Kurdish militants were killed.
"We want to make clear that we find these clashes - in areas where ISIL is not located - unacceptable and a source of deep concern," said Brett McGurk, U.S special envoy for the fight against Islamic State, using an acronym for the jihadists.
"We call on all armed actors to stand down," he wrote on Twitter, citing a U.S. Department of Defense statement.
Turkey, which is battling a Kurdish insurgency on its soil, has said its campaign has a dual goal of "cleansing" the region of Islamic State and stopping Kurdish forces filling the void and extending the area they control near Turkey's border.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11305C?il=0
Saudi Arabia/Qatar/UAE coalition invaded Yemen over a year ago and now it's Turkey who has invaded another neighbouring nation, the same nations who have actively been supporting and funding ISIS and other jihadists for years now. Isn't it time America reevaluated its choice of allies in the Middle East?
Turkish-backed forces pushed deeper into northern Syria on Monday and drew a rebuke from NATO ally the United States, which said it was concerned the battle for territory had shifted away from targeting Islamic State.
At the start of Turkey's now almost week-long cross-border offensive, Turkish tanks, artillery and warplanes provided Syrian rebel allies the firepower to capture swiftly the Syrian frontier town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants.
Since then, Turkish forces have mainly pushed into areas controlled by forces aligned to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that encompasses the Kurdish YPG militia and which has been backed by Washington to fight the jihadists.
A group monitoring the tangled, five-year-old conflict in Syria said 41 people were killed by Turkish air strikes as Turkish forces pushed south on Sunday. Turkey denied there were any civilian deaths, saying 25 Kurdish militants were killed.
"We want to make clear that we find these clashes - in areas where ISIL is not located - unacceptable and a source of deep concern," said Brett McGurk, U.S special envoy for the fight against Islamic State, using an acronym for the jihadists.
"We call on all armed actors to stand down," he wrote on Twitter, citing a U.S. Department of Defense statement.
Turkey, which is battling a Kurdish insurgency on its soil, has said its campaign has a dual goal of "cleansing" the region of Islamic State and stopping Kurdish forces filling the void and extending the area they control near Turkey's border.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11305C?il=0
Saudi Arabia/Qatar/UAE coalition invaded Yemen over a year ago and now it's Turkey who has invaded another neighbouring nation, the same nations who have actively been supporting and funding ISIS and other jihadists for years now. Isn't it time America reevaluated its choice of allies in the Middle East?