Pentagon urges Turkey to halt incursion into Syria
The Pentagon on Friday urged Turkey to halt its military incursion into Syria, saying it threatens progress in combating the Islamic State group and risks harm to U.S. troops.
It was the Pentagon’s most explicit criticism of the Turkish operation, which began Wednesday as a campaign against a Syrian Kurd-led militia that has partnered with U.S. forces over the past five years to fight the Islamic State.
President Donald Trump has called the invasion a “bad idea” and held out the possibility of the U.S. mediating a settlement. The Pentagon had said before the operation began that the U.S. military would not support it, but it had not openly criticized the invasion. The U.S. pulled about 30 special operations troops out of observation posts along the invasion route on the Syrian border.
In a written statement, the chief Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, said that in a phone call Thursday with his Turkish counterpart, Defense Secretary Mark Esper “made it clear” that the U.S. opposes the incursion. Hoffman said Esper told Defense Minister Hulusi Akar that his government’s military actions “place at risk” the progress made to defeat the extremists, and Esper urged Turkey to stop its incursion.
https://www.apnews.com/412849d1224a40a19f5d535087a37310
= new reply since forum marked as read
He's given his word on that.
