US Envoy Visits Kurds in Syria amid Turkey Tensions

Local Editor

Washington dispatched a top envoy to meet with allied Kurdish forces inside Syria last week, a State Department official said Monday, following tensions after Turkey began operations in the war-torn country.

Washington found itself trapped between two key allies who are bitter foes -- NATO partner Turkey, and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, also taking part in the war against the Daesh [Arabic acronym for the [terrorist "ISIS"/ "ISISL"] group but considered a "terrorist" group by Ankara.

A State Department spokesman stated that Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy to the US-led coalition fighting Daesh, met with forces from the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces alliance.

The alliance is led by the YPG, and recently captured the town of Manbij from Daesh, prompting alarm in Ankara and demands that Kurdish forces withdraw east of the Euphrates River.

The spokesman said McGurk pledged "ongoing US support for the SDF in the fight against Daesh while emphasizing the need for strict adherence to prior commitments", a reference to demands the SDF withdraw east of the Euphrates.

"In all of his meetings, he encouraged unity of effort and de-confliction between all forces fighting Daesh in northern Syria," the spokesman said.

Last week, the Pentagon was forced to call on Turkey and Kurdish forces to avoid fighting each other, after clashes in northern Syria following the launch of Ankara's operation "Euphrates Shield".

McGurk also held talks last week in Turkey, the spokesman said.

"He met with senior Turkish officials to discuss US support for efforts to clear Daesh entirely from the border region... [and] also discussed planning for the Mosul campaign in Iraq‎, and closer US and Turkish cooperation to accelerate Daesh's ultimate defeat."
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Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team