Turkish Troops in Syria, U.S. Forces Relocated to Iraq

Are U.S. & Turkey Executing a Single Project?

Date: 20 October 2019 - 21:36

News ID: ۷۱۸۹۸

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – U.S. forces withdrew from a key base in northern Syria on Sunday, two days before the end of a U.S.-brokered truce to stem a Turkish attack on Kurdish forces in the region, according to a UK-based activist group.
On Thursday, Turkey agreed in talks with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to a five-day pause in its invasion of northeastern Syria to allow time for Kurdish fighters to withdraw from a "safe zone" Ankara aims to occupy near the Turkish border with Syria.
An AFP correspondent saw more than 70 U.S. armored vehicles escorted by helicopters drive past the town of Tal Tamer carrying military equipment.
Some flew the American stars-and-stripes flag as they made their way eastwards along a highway crossing the town, he said.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for the Human Rights said the convoy was evacuating the military base of Sarrin.
It appeared to be heading to the town of Hasakah, further east, said the Observatory, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information.
Sarrin "is the largest American military base in the north of the country," Observatory chief Rami Abdurrahman said.
It is situated on the edges of the planned "safe zone" on the Syrian side of the border that Turkey wants to occupy to purportedly keep Kurdish forces away from its frontier.
Turkey on Sunday said Kurdish fighters had withdrawn from the besieged Syrian border town of Ras al-Ain under the agreement brokered with the U.S.
"A convoy of approximately 55 vehicles entered Ras al-Ain and a convoy of 86 vehicles departed in the direction of Tal Tamer," the Turkish defense ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said: "There are absolutely no impediments to the withdrawal" of Kurdish forces and "the activities of exiting and evacuation from the region are firmly coordinated with the U.S. counterparts".
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey and Russia will discuss the removal of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from the northern Syrian towns of Manbij and Kobani during talks in Sochi next week.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants Syrian government forces to move out of areas near the Turkish border so he can resettle up to 2 million refugees there, his spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday. The request will top Erdogan’s talks next week with Syria’s ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sunday's pullout was the fourth such withdrawal of U.S. forces in a week and left Syria's northern provinces of Aleppo and Raqqa devoid of U.S. troops, Abdurrahman said.
Pentagon chief Mark Esper said on Saturday that all of the nearly 1,000 troops withdrawing from northern Syria are expected to move to western Iraq.
The crisis was triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's green light earlier this month to Turkey to launch its invasion of northern Syria.
"The U.S. withdrawal continues apace from northeastern Syria... we're talking weeks not days," Esper told reporters en route to the Middle East, adding that the withdrawal was being carried out through aircraft and ground convoys.
"The current game plan is for those forces to re-position into western Iraq," Esper said, adding that they would number about 1,000.
A senior U.S. military official clarified that the situation was still fluid and plans could change.
A document released by pro-government Turkish think tank SETA revealed the U.S. supported and funded most of the militant factions now aiding Turkey in its invasion of northern Syria.
The document, cited by Syria’s official news agency SANA Sunday, said the White House not only gave the green light to Ankara to launch its incursion, but also placed its "mercenaries and terrorist… at the disposal of Turkey.”
"Out of the 28 factions (headed by Turkish-backed FSA militant group), 21 were previously supported by the United States,” it said.
Any decision to send additional U.S. troops to Iraq is likely to be heavily scrutinized in a country wracked by an American invasion and its occupation for years.
It is unclear whether the U.S. troops will use Iraq as a base to launch ground raids into Syria.
The additional U.S. troops would add to the more than 5,000 American troops already based in Iraq.
While Esper said he had spoken with his Iraqi counterpart and will continue to have conversations in the future, the move will likely be viewed with suspicion in Iraq.
Iraq is in the midst of a political crisis. Mass protests led to more than 100 deaths and 6,000 injuries during the week starting October 1.