Turkish
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met military officials on Thursday to discuss a
possible offensive east of the Euphrates River in Syria as Ankara ramped up
warnings of a cross-border operation, Reuters reported.
The
meeting came a day after Turkey said it would launch an offensive unless an agreement on a planned safe zone in Syria could be reached with the United
States, saying it had run “out of patience” with Washington.
The
operation, which would mark the third Turkish incursion into Syria in as many
years, was first signaled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this year
but later put on hold.
Following
President Donald Trump’s announcement of a planned US withdrawal from northern
Syria, the two NATO allies agreed to create a zone inside Syria and along its
northeastern border with Turkey that would be cleared of the Kurdish YPG
militia.
The
YPG was Washington’s main ally on the ground in Syria during the battle against
ISIS, but Turkey sees it as a terrorist organization, indistinguishable from
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants waging an insurgency inside Turkey.
Ankara
has said that the United States has stalled progress on setting up the safe
zone and has demanded that Washington sever its relations with the YPG.
A
US delegation led by Syria Special Envoy James Jeffrey presented proposals this
week which failed to satisfy Turkish officials, Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said.
On
Thursday, Akar told Turkish military officers that Ankara had set out its view
to the US delegation. “We emphasized to them once again that we have no
tolerance for any delays, and that we will use our initiative if necessary,”
the Defense Ministry quoted Akar as saying.
In
Washington, the Pentagon reiterated that coordination and consultation between
the United States and Turkey was the only way to address security concerns.
“We
have made clear that unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any
party, particularly as US personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave
concern,” Commander Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.
“We
would find any such actions unacceptable,” Robertson said.
STRAINED
TIES
Earlier
on Thursday, Turkish military officials said that Ankara and Washington would
continue to discuss the planned safe zone despite rising tensions between the
allies.
“We
cannot share details as efforts are under way. Our aims are clear. The Turkish
army is the only force capable of doing this,” one of the officials said
regarding the safe zone.
He
reiterated Turkey’s frustration that an agreement reached a year ago with the
United States to clear the northern Syrian town of Manbij of YPG fighters had
not been implemented.
“Despite
all our work, the end-goal of the Manbij roadmap, which is for the area to be
cleared of the YPG, for heavy arms to be collected, and a local administration
to be formed, has not been reached. There are still around 1,000 terrorists in
the region,” the official said, referring to the YPG.
Ties
between Ankara and Washington have been strained over a host of issues, but
Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems has brought the NATO
allies to the brink of one of the biggest ruptures in ties.
The
United States said it had suspended Turkey’s involvement in the F-35 fighter
jet program over the Russian systems and that it would later remove Ankara
completely. It has also said that Turkey may face possible US sanctions over
the deal.
Turkey
has dismissed the warnings, instead pinning its hopes on sympathetic comments
from Trump who has said that Ankara had been treated unfairly. Trump has not
ruled out imposing sanctions on Turkey.
On
Thursday, military officials said that while Russia had offered to provide
Turkey with its SU-35 jets if Ankara asked for them, there were no talks to
procure alternatives to the F-35s. Akar, however, said that Turkey would look
elsewhere if it was denied the jets.
