U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis waits to welcome Chinese Minister of National Defense Gen. Wei Fenghe to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 9, 2018.
The U.S. is placing observation posts along the Turkish border in northern Syria, Defense Chief James Mattis said Wednesday.
Turkey has "legitimate" concerns about terror threats in Syria and the U.S. does not dismiss any of its concerns, he told reporters at the Pentagon.
The concerns are emanating from the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, according to Mattis.
"Assad, with the help of Russia and Iran has, as you know, committed murder in his own country. And he's torn the country apart with his kind of governance, if you can even call it that. And Turkey has a lot of reasons for concerns, being the NATO country with a border right along Syria," Mattis said.
Turkish ambassador to Paris on Wednesday said Ankara has repeatedly warned its allies that the YPG/PYD terrorist group is as deadly as Daesh.Speaking at a conference entitled “Turkey: European and Regional Perspectives” at the Institut Diderot in Paris, Ismail Hakki Musa highlighted Turkey’s role in hosting 3.5 million Syrian refugees as well as humanitarian relief efforts worldwide, spending as much as $8 billion as the world’s second most charitable country.He also spoke about Turkey-EU cooperation on security and counterterrorism and said his country is an “important actor” in this regard.Musa stressed that Turkey has been one of the most effective members of the international coalition against the Daesh terror group and that “neutralized” over 3,000 terrorists in Syria thus far.Noting that Europe had only heeded Ankara’s warnings against Daesh after the terror group began conducting attacks on the continent, the ambassador said that Turkey’s goal with the U.S. on Manbij was to clear the area of the PYD/YPG and deliver the region to its real owners.On Nov. 1, Turkish and U.S. troops began joint patrols in Manbij, northeast of the Aleppo Governorate in Syria, as part of an agreement that focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region.The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a terrorist group recognized by Turkey, the U.S., and EU, which in its 30-year terror campaign has taken some 40,000 lives.The U.S. has claimed the YPG/PKK is an “ally” in the fight against Daesh, over Turkey’s objections that one cannot use a terrorist group to fight another.Turkey has repeatedly cited evidence that the YPG is no different from the PKK.
Turkey constantly warns Europe of PYD/YPG threat: Envoy
In order to combat concerns coming from Syria, the U.S will place posts along the border with Turkey and Syria, where it can warn Ankara of any potential threats.
"We are putting in OPs [observation posts] up in northern Syria, this is a change now. We are putting in observation posts in several locations up along the Syria border," Mattis said. "We want to be the people to call the Turks and warn them if we see something coming out of an area that we're operating in."
The U.S. is consulting "closely" with the Turkish military and the State Department, said the defense chief.
"We are going to track any threat that we can spot going up into Turkey. That means we will be talking to Turkey's military across the border," added Mattis.
The defense chief also said the observation posts were being placed to allow forces fighting in the Middle Euphrates Valley to focus on eliminating the "geographic caliphate," referring to Daesh terrorists.
More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh terror attacks in Turkey, where the terror group targets civilians in suicide bomb, rocket and gun attacks.