Turkey carried out a series of airstrikes Tuesday against US allies fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq amd US officials are “deeply concerned”
According to CNN , a senior US defense official said that the US was given about one hour’s advance notice of the strikes by the Turkish military and that no US or coalition advisers were in the vicinity. The Turkish warplanes struck targets in northern Syria and the area of Sinjar in northern Iraq. The Turkish armed forces issued a statement saying it had “neutralized” 70 PKK “terrorist” fighters , 40 in northern Iraq and 30 others in northeastern Syria.
America’s primary Syrian (Syrian democratic forces) ally in the fight against ISIS, and the Iraq-based Kurdish Peshmerga both said that they suffered casualties as well as a result of the airstrikes. State department spokesperson Mark Toner said in a Tuesday report “We are very concerned, deeply concerned, that Turkey conducted airstrikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat ISIS”.
The Pentagon also released a statement on its concerns about the strikes. “These airstrikes were not approved by the Counter-ISIS Coalition and led to the unfortunate loss of life of our partner forces in the fight against ISIS, including the Kurdish Peshmerga,” Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.
“Given the extraordinarily complex battle space in these areas, it is vital that Turkey and all partners in the defeat-ISIS effort coordinate their actions closely as we work together to maintain maximum pressure on ISIS and ensure the safety of all Coalition personnel in theater,” Rankine-Galloway said. Turkey has long been opposed to the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the US.
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