Turkey Worried About US Plans to Set Up Observation Posts in Syria - Defense Minister
Turkish authorities have expressed their concerns to the United States about Washington's plans to establish several observation posts in northern Syria near the Turkish border, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday, stressing that the move would have a negative impact.
The US Defense Department said on Thursday that the United States were setting up observation posts in northern Syria to "provide Turkey with military intelligence of any terrorist elements moving into Turkey from Syria."
Akar said in an interview with the Anadolu news agency that he had met with US Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford last week on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, and discussed the US plans on observation posts.
"We have stated that the observation points to be established by the US troops on the Syrian border will have a very negative impact ... and in the course of our discussions we expressed that it could lead to a perception that 'US soldiers are somehow protecting terrorist [Kurdish People's Protection Units] YPG members and shield them,'" the minister told the news outlet.
Turkey and the United States have had tense relations in recent years, in part due to Ankara's concerns over US support for the YPG, viewed by the Turkish authorities as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.