Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, conveying his strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria.
Austin expressed concern over escalating action in northern Syria and Turkey, including recent airstrikes, some of which directly threatened the safety of US personnel who are working with local partners in Syria to defeat ISIS.
Secretary Austin called for de-escalation, and shared the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month launched airstrikes on
northern Syria and Iraq targeting Kurdish groups in the two neighboring
countries. Ankara claims the strikes are in retaliation for a November 13, 2022
bombing in Istanbul that killed six people and injured 80 more.
Erdoğan also suggested on November 23 that he also plans to order a ground invasion into northern Syria.
The US has notably partnered with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the effort to defeat ISIS in the region and continues to work with the group to keep the terrorist group at bay.
Since the Turkish strikes, the US military is operating at a reduced number of partner patrols with the SDF, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday.
Ryder noted that while the US recognizes Turkey’s security concerns, the focus here is on preventing a destabilizing situation, which would put ISIS in an ability to reconstitute.
He added that the US has frequent and open lines of communication with its Turkish allies at a variety of levels.
“We did issue a statement highlighting the fact that a strike did come close to US personnel, and we clearly have communicated that,” he said.
