US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that Washington would prevent any unilateral Turkish invasion of Syria since such a move would be unacceptable
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2019) US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that Washington would prevent any unilateral Turkish invasion of Syria since such a move would be unacceptable.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long warned that Ankara would launch a new military operation to the east of the Euphrates River in Syria to remove Kurdish militia, specifically the People's Protection Units (YPG), from Turkish borders if Washington failed to meet Ankara's conditions for a safe zone. On Monday, a source in the Turkish military told Sputnik that the operation may start after the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha on August 11.
"Clearly we believe any unilateral action by them would be unacceptable," Esper told reporters as quoted by The National.
On Sunday, Erdogan said that Turkey had informed the United States and Russia of its plans on the military operation.
"What we're going to do is prevent unilateral incursions that would upset, again, these mutual interests that the United States, Turkey and the [Syrian Democratic Forces] SDF share with regard to northern Syria," Esper said.
The territory to the east of the Euphrates is currently controlled by the self-defense forces which mainly include Kurdish-led militia who are backed by the United States.
In January, US President Donald Trump proposed the establishment of a buffer safe zone as a solution to decrease tensions between Turkey and the YPG. Negotiations on the safe zone continue as the two countries have yet to reach a final agreement on how wide the safe zone should be and what Ankara's role in Syria would be.
