U.S. Alarm as Turkey Warns Syrian Kurd Militia of More Strikes
Turkey warned Monday it would carry out more strikes on a Syrian Kurdish militia if it failed to retreat beyond the Euphrates River, as Washington condemned their weekend clashes as "unacceptable".
Turkish forces pressed on with a two-pronged operation inside Syria against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), shelling over a dozen targets.
But strikes against the YPG are hugely sensitive as the Kurdish group -- seen as a terror group by Ankara -- is allied with Turkey's NATO partner, the United States, in the fight against IS in Syria.
Ankara said it had killed 25 Kurdish "terrorists" in strikes on YPG positions on Sunday, a day after a Turkish soldier died in a rocket attack allegedly by the militia.
The Pentagon called the clashes "unacceptable" and urged an immediate de-escalation.
Turkey's operation aims to push the YPG back across the Euphrates River to prevent it joining up the region east of the river already under its control with a Kurdish-held area to the west.
- 'Ethnic cleansing' -
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, visiting Ankara last week, said Washington had told the YPG to go back across the Euphrates or risk losing American support. But Ankara says it had seen no evidence of this.
"The YPG... needs to cross east of the Euphrates as soon as possible. So long as they don't, they will be a target," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
"In the places where it has moved, the YPG forces everyone out -- including Kurds -- who do not think like it does and carries out ethnic cleansing," he added.
Cavusoglu said the ethnic composition of the area around the city of Manbij west of the Euphrates -- captured by the YPG from IS earlier this month -- was largely Arab.
He said that those who had lived in the area before fighting broke out should return rather than new Kurdish migrants.
- 'Deep concern' -
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 40 civilians were killed in Turkish shelling and air strikes on Sunday, claims strongly rejected by Ankara.
"Allegations that... civilians were shot at or targeted do not reflect the truth," the Turkish premier's office said, adding the army was taking "all necessary measures to prevent any harm to the civilian population."
It said 13 villages had "been cleared of terrorist elements" and were now controlled by anti-regime Syrian fighters that Ankara refers to as the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Ankara-backed forces captured the IS border stronghold of Jarabulus last week, facing seemingly little resistance from the jihadists who fled to bases further south.
But the standoff with the Kurdish militia has been intense, with a Turkish soldier killed on Saturday in a YPG rocket attack on his tank.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Washington was monitoring the reports of air strikes and clashes and found such fighting -- in an area clear of IS -- "unacceptable and a source of deep concern".
"The United States was not involved in these activities, they were not coordinated with U.S. forces, and we do not support them," he said.
He called for steps to de-escalate the situation and said Washington had once again told the YPG to retreat east of the Euphrates. This has "largely occurred," he added.
- 'Prevent Kurdish corridor' -
NTV television said that Turkish artillery had shelled 15 targets in northern Syria on Monday. It did not say which group was targeted.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed one of the key aims of its unprecedented operation was to prevent the creation of a corridor stretching from Iraq to the verge of the Mediterranean controlled by the YPG.
"If that happens, it means Syria has been divided," he added, quoted by NTV television.
He added that all relevant parties had been informed of Turkey's operation in Syria, including the regime of President Bashar Assad who is a bitter enemy of Ankara and had been told by its ally Russia.
But Kurtulmus denied Turkey was at war. "We are not pursuing an aim of becoming a permanent power in Syria. Turkey is not an invader. Turkey is not entering a war."