Turkey has launched a military operation in northern Syria after U.S. withdraws. The U.S. military began pulling back its forces from the Turkish border after the White House said it would not stand in the way of Ankara's operation.
Turkey launched an offensive into north-eastern Syria yesterday, unleashing air strikes and artillery barrages aimed at US-backed Kurdish forces who control the region.
The Guardian says Turkey’s offensive was triggered by a call between Donald Trump and Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Sunday, “in which the Turks claim Trump handed over leadership of the campaign against Isis in Syria to Ankara.” The American president announced on Sunday night that US troops would withdraw from the region.
The UN Security Council is due to convene today to discuss the offensive at the request of its five current European members. France was reportedly pushing for the council to at least make a joint statement but it was unclear on Wednesday whether even that would be possible.
The Turkish leader marked the launch of the offensive, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, with a tweet, saying that it was being conducted by Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian militias, against Kurdish forces and ISIS.
“Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area,” President Erdogan wrote.
Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) confirmed that Turkish warplanes had already begun attacking the region, creating a “huge panic among people.”
Meanwhile, critics say the operation could lead to ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population and a revival of the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
The BBC says the Kurds – who helped defeat IS in Syria and were key US allies in that fight – guard thousands of IS fighters and their relatives in prisons and camps in areas under their control. It is reportedly unclear whether they will continue to do so if battles break out.
