Turkish Air Force Pounds Regions Hosting US Forces in Northern Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- Clashes between the US and Turkish sides are possible as Ankara launched strikes on areas hosting the special American forces in Northern Syria.
The Russian, Turkish and Kurdish media reported that the Turkish air force and army have launched offensives on regions near Manbij and Tal Abyadh at the Northern borders of Syria with Turkey.
The Arabic service of Sputnik news agency quoted Ali Uzbek, a Turkish journalist, as saying that the Turkish air force has attacked several facilities of the Kurdish forces near the two towns of Manbij and Arima.
He referred to the presence of the US special forces in Manbij, raising the possibility for clashes and complication of relations between Ankara and Washington.
Manbij is currently under the control of the Kurdish forces who are supported by the US, and the American and NATO special forces and advisers are permanently present among them.
Earlier this week, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the US and Ankara may come face-to-face in Manbij, though the possibility is “small”, while earlier President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will “thwart games” on its borders and start with Manbij.
Turkey will also continue to use the airspace across Afrin region in Northern Syria, where it recently launched Operation ‘Olive Branch’, Bozdag told Reuters in an interview.
At the same time, he said, Ankara is ready for all types of cooperation with Russia and the US if these actions would bring peace to the region.
Erdogan has criticized the administration of former US President Barack Obama for failing to keep its promises to Turkey in Syria.
“There was an operation during Mr. Obama’s administration. That operation aimed to clear terrorists from Manbij. But he failed to keep up to his promise and cheated us,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara has done its part, but Washington has not.
“They [the Obama administration] promised they would send the terrorists in this area to the East of the Euphrates and leave Manbij,” he stressed.
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