RISKY: Trump urges Turkey to ‘de-escalate, limit its military actions’ -
ISTANBUL: Tensions between Turkey and the United States mounted on Thursday, as Turkish officials blasted Washington over its support for Kurdish militants in Syria and Ankara stepped up a military operation against a Kurdish-held Syrian enclave.
The US warned Turkey to “avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces” in Syria, according to a White House statement following a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
Trump also expressed concerns about “escalating violence” in Afrin, the Kurdish-held area under attack.
However, Turkey was still sending more armoured units to the border area, broadcaster NTV reported.
Meanwhile, Erdogan has threatened to expand the Turkish operation to Manbij, a northern Syria city which US-backed forces, led by Kurdish fighters, seized from IS in 2016.
The Kurdish fighters and allies say hundreds of their members were killed by IS during the battle for the city, east of Afrin, where the US maintains a military presence.
Turkey controls territory to the west of Manbij.
Turkish officials warned that if the US wished to avoid a confrontation with Turkey, Washington had to cut its support for the YPG, the main Kurdish militia in Syria.
The YPG makes up the bulk of the US-backed force defeating IS in Syria.
Battles against the extremist group are ongoing.
“If the US administration does not want to confront Turkey — which it does not, as we Turkey do not either — the way is cutting support to certain terrorists,” said Bekir Bozdag, a deputy prime minister.
Bozdag called on the US to retrieve weapons given to the YPG and ensure the group leaves Manbij.
In between Afrin and Manbij, Turkey controls a swath of territory in fractured northern Syria.
Brett McGurk, Trump’s top envoy in the war against IS, commenting about Afrin on Twitter, warned that a “prolonged operation risks giving life to IS as (it is) on the verge of defeat.”
The US has prioritised the fight against IS, while Turkey is focused on Kurdish fighters, leading to the diverging views among the Nato members on Syria.
Turkish officials have sharply disputed the White House statement following the phone call between the two presidents, denying keylines.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hinted that the statement could have been written before the two leaders spoke.
“First, we have to build up trust with the USA again,” Cavusoglu told reporters in Istanbul, adding there was a “confidence crisis” with Washington.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking in Ankara, said the Afrin operation “continues as planned,” while accusing the US of “embracing terrorist groups.”
In the phone call, Trump “urged Turkey to de-escalate, limit its military actions, and avoid civilian casualties and increases to displaced persons and refugees.” Turkey denies this, with officials saying the talk about Syria was “limited to an exchange of views.”
Turkey views the US-backed Kurdish forces as terrorists, charging they have links to Turkish-Kurdish insurgents, but the differences between Ankara and Washington extend to a number of issues that are becoming entangled.
Turkish officials also denied Trump talked to Erdogan as the US expressed concern about US citizens and employees under arrest in Turkey.
Ankara launched the operation in Afrin on Saturday, using its own troops and allied Syrian rebel fighters.
Turkish forces carried out fresh airstrikes and shelling on Thursday, Kurdish officials in Afrin said, adding that they counted 31civilians killed over the past six days. Turkey denies killing any civilians.
Fighting was taking place on multiple fronts inside Afrin, which is surrounded by Turkey and Turkish-controlled areas of Syria. — dpa
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