Turkish and Iranian forces on Monday kicked off an offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish paramilitary forces in Syria that Ankara has labeled a terrorist group, as Washington continues to hammer out a security deal with the NATO ally for a post-Islamic State Syria.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced the operation against eastern Syrian enclaves housing members of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK. “We started carrying out an operation with Iran against the PKK on our eastern border this morning [and] will announce the result,” of that offensive in the coming days, Mr. Soylu said during a televised speech on state-run media, Reuters reports.
Elements of the Syrian Democratic Union Party or PYD are tied to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG. The YPG is the known armed wing of the PKK, operating mostly in northern and eastern Syria. Turkey has tagged the PKK and the YPG as a terrorist group, responsible for attacks inside Turkey.
YPG elements are also part of the Syrian Democratic Forces or SDF — the umbrella coalition of Arab and Kurdish militias backed by the U.S., who played a critical role in driving out the Islamic State from its Syrian redoubts.
The Pentagon thus far has remained mum on Iran’s joint operation with Turkey, which remains one of Washington’s key NATO allies in the region. On Sunday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said American commanders were “conducting detailed military planning” with their military counterparts in Ankara, “to address Turkish security concerns along the Turkey-Syria.”
The four-star general also dismissed reports that the U.S. was planning to keep 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria, to protect Kurdish paramilitaries, despite President Trump’s announcement of a complete Syrian withdrawal in December. U.S. officials have since said a residual force of 400 to 600 American soldiers would remain on the ground in Syria.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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