BEIRUT: The US-led coalition and Turkey conducted their third joint patrol in northeastern Syria on Friday, part of a plan designed to defuse tensions between Washington’s two allies — Turkey and the Syrian Kurds.
The patrol followed a telephone call late Thursday between Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper during which Akar reiterated that Turkey wont’ accept a delay in the creation of what it calls “a safe zone” and would act alone if necessary to set it up.
Akar also told Esper that Turkey would end the joint patrols “if there are distractions, delays” and urged the US to end its support to Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Ankara views Syrian Kurdish fighters as an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey and wants them away from the Turkey-Syria border. It has repeatedly threatened to carry out a military operation to push the Kurds away.
Turkey had carried out military incursions with allied Syrian groups in western Syria to drive out Kurdish fighters, as well as Daesh militants, and has stationed troops there.
But a Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria would carry a larger risk, bringing Turkish soldiers into a zone where at least 1,000 US troops are deployed.
Akar told his US counterpart Turkey “would not allow the establishment of a terror corridor to its south,” according to his statement.
The coalition said the patrol went ahead as planned and Turkey’s defense ministry said it was in an area east of the town of Tal Abyad.
Washington says the deal reached with Ankara in August aims to address Turkey’s security concerns.
So far, fighters from the most prominent Syrian Kurdish group — the People’s Protection Units or YPG — have moved away from border posts.
But Turkey remains unhappy with the size of the area it calls a “safe zone.” It also wants some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees to return there.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament that Turkey plans to settle 2 million refugees in the zone, and will hold a donors’ conference to help build homes and infrastructure for them.
It is not clear how Turkey plans to move the largely Sunni Arab Syrians it is hosting from many parts of Syria into the Kurdish-dominated region, and whether the US is on board.
US conducts new joint patrol with Turkey in northeast Syria
US conducts new joint patrol with Turkey in northeast Syria
- Ankara views Syrian Kurdish fighters as an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey and wants them away from the Turkey-Syria border
- Turkey had carried out military incursions with allied Syrian groups in western Syria to drive out Kurdish fighters, as well as Daesh militants
Iran FM tells UN all military bases of ‘hostile forces’ legitimate targets
- UN chief condemns escalation, calls for immediate return to negotiating table
- Emergency session of Security Council set to convene on Saturday in New York
NEW YORK: Iran will use “all necessary defensive capabilities and means” to confront attacks by the US and Israel, and will treat “all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile forces in the region” as legitimate military targets under its right to self-defense, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the president of the Security Council, Araghchi said US and Israeli airstrikes are “a clear violation” of the UN Charter and amount to “an open armed aggression” against Iran.
Tehran is exercising its “inherent and lawful right of self-defense” under the UN Charter, he added.
The letter, seen by Arab News, accused the US and Israel of launching coordinated, large-scale attacks on Iranian territory, targeting defensive facilities and civilian sites in several cities.
Araghchi said Iran will continue to act “decisively and without hesitation until the aggression ceases fully and unequivocally,” adding that the US and Israel “shall bear full and direct responsibility for all ensuing consequences, including any escalation arising from their unlawful actions.”
He called on the 15-member Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to address a “breach of peace which is a real and serious threat to international peace and security,” and urged UN member states to “unequivocally condemn this act of aggression.”
An emergency session of the council is set to convene in New York on Saturday, requested by France, Bahrain, Colombia, China and Russia.
The Russian mission at the UN said in a statement that during the meeting, Moscow will demand that the US and Israel “immediately cease their illegal and escalatory actions and embark on a path toward a political and diplomatic settlement.” It added that “Russia is willing to provide all necessary assistance in this process.”
Meanwhile, Guterres condemned the military escalation, saying “the use of force by the United States and Israel against Iran, and the subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace and security.”
The UN Charter clearly prohibits “the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations,” Guterres said in a statement.
He called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation, and an immediate return to the negotiating table, adding that “failing to do so risks a wider regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”
UN human rights chief Volker Turk also deplored the escalation and warned that civilians are the ones who end up paying “the ultimate price.”
He said: “Bombs and missiles are not the way to resolve differences but only result in death, destruction and human misery.”
Turk called for restraint and implored the parties “to see reason, to de-escalate, and (return) to the ‘negotiating table’ where they had been actively seeking a solution only hours earlier.”
