Statement by Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder:
• "recent air strikes in Syria He directly threatened the safety of American personnel working in Syria with local partners to take down the group ISIS And the detention of more than 10,000 detainees of the extremist organization".
• "The escalation of the situation jeopardizes years of progress against ISIS militants".
• "The United States recognizes Turkey’s legitimate security concerns"but "An immediate de-escalation is needed to maintain focus on the ISIS defeat mission and to ensure the safety and security of the military on the ground engaged in the ISIS defeat mission.".
The United States has about 900 troops in Syria, mostly in the northeast, who are working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by Kurdish fighters from People’s Protection Units, to fight the remnants of "ISIS".
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the air operations carried out by Ankara "It’s only the beginning"It will launch a ground operation when appropriate after escalating retaliatory strikes.
Ankara attributed the Istanbul attack to the People’s Protection Units, while no one has claimed responsibility, and he denied Kurdistan Workers’ Party And the People’s Protection Units involved them.
Turkey has already carried out military incursions into Syria to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), seeing them as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey, the US and the EU classify as a group terrorist.
This is not the first time Turkish operations in northern Syria have threatened the US military: In 2019, US forces in the region came under artillery shelling from Turkish positions, while Ankara launched an attack on Kurdish militants allied with the United States at the time.
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Ankara recently launched attacks on Kurdish strongholds in Syria, in response to an explosion that hit Taksim Street in the center Istanbul As a result, 6 people were killed and dozens injured.
Statement by Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder:
• “Recent air strikes in Syria He directly threatened the safety of American personnel working in Syria with local partners to take down the group ISIS And the detention of more than 10,000 detainees of the extremist organization.
• “The escalating situation is jeopardizing years of progress against ISIS fighters.”
• “The United States recognizes Turkey’s legitimate security concerns,” but “an immediate de-escalation is needed to maintain focus on the ISIS defeat mission and ensure the safety and security of engaged military personnel on the ground in the ISIS Defeat Mission.”
The United States has about 900 troops in Syria, especially in the northeast, who are working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by Kurdish fighters from People’s Protection Units, to fight the remnants of “ISIS”.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara’s air operations were “just the beginning” and that he would launch a ground operation at an appropriate time after retaliatory attacks escalated.
Ankara attributed the Istanbul attack to the People’s Protection Units, while no one has claimed responsibility, and he denied Kurdistan Workers’ Party And the People’s Protection Units involved them.
Turkey has already carried out military incursions into Syria to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), seeing them as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey, the US and the EU classify as a group terrorist.
This isn’t the first time Turkish operations in northern Syria have threatened the US military: In 2019, US forces in the region came under artillery shelling from Turkish positions, while Ankara launched an attack on Kurdish militants allied with the United States at the time.
