U.S. Sets Up Observation Posts in Syria

Date: 12 December 2018 - 21:05

News ID: ۶۰۷۰۰

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The United States has finalized the establishment of observation posts in northeast Syria and will be coordinating with Turkey its security efforts in the border region, Department of Defense spokesperson Col. Rob Manning said in a press release.
"At the direction of Secretary Mattis, the U.S. established observation posts in the northeast Syria border region to address the security concerns of our NATO ally Turkey," the release said.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar had earlier said Ankara expressed its concerns about U.S. plans to establish several observation posts in Syria. Akar explained that it could lead to a perception that the United States is "somehow protecting terrorist YPG [Kurdish People's Protection Units] members."
"We take Turkish security concerns seriously and we are committed to coordinating our efforts with Turkey to bring stability to northeastern Syria," Manning said in the release.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu this month lambasted as a "big mistake” the U.S. support for the YPG militants in Syria, a thorny issue in ties between the two allies.
The YPG forms the backbone of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an anti-Damascus alliance of predominantly Kurdish militants supported by the U.S.
Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.
The Pentagon’s Tuesday release further said that the U.S. military would coordinate with Turkey its security efforts in the border region.
"We take Turkish security concerns seriously and we are committed to coordinating our efforts with Turkey to bring stability to northeastern Syria,” Manning said in the press release.
Washington infuriated Ankara by announcing a plan for the formation of a Kurdish militant force in Syria near the Turkish border.
The plan prompted Turkey to launch a cross-border military operation on January 20 inside the Arab country, code-named Operation Olive Branch, with the declared aim of eliminating the YPG militants from northern Syria, particularly the Afrin region.
Turkish troops captured Afrin in March, and threatened to take the battle to nearby Manbij. Ankara and Washington agreed a roadmap on Manbij, which would see the city cleansed of U.S.-backed Kurdish militants.
Mattis said last month that Washington wanted the so-called observation posts to help minimize tensions between the Turks and US-backed SDF forces in the purported fight against the Daesh terrorist group.

A U.S. soldier sits on an armored vehicle behind a sand barrier at a newly installed position near the tense front line between the U.S.-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council and the Turkish-backed militia, in Manbij, north Syria, April 4, 2018.