Precarious situation in the north
Blinken: IS in Syria must continue to be fought
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara and spoke with him about the current situation in Syria. Blinken reiterated that civilians must be protected, said his spokesman (see video above).
The Turkish government had expressed security concerns. In Syria, Turkish troops are fighting against Kurdish-led forces, which in turn are supported by the US government - as important players in the fight against the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS). This has led to diplomatic disagreements with Erdogan's government. According to Erdogan, the Kurdish forces are an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is classified as a terrorist organization and banned in Turkey.
Fight against IS "important task"
Blinken told Erdogan on Thursday that it must be ensured that the "coalition to fight IS can continue to fulfill its important task". "At the same time, we want to avoid triggering additional conflicts in Syria. This also includes ensuring that IS does not re-emerge. And crucial to ensuring that this does not happen are the so-called SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces (...)," Blinken explained.
Erdogan also wants to fight against IS, as well as against the Kurdish militia YPG. The YPG currently controls areas in northern Syria, but the Syrian National Army is advancing and recently took control of the city of Manbij.
Erdogan wants corridor
IS declared a "caliphate" in 2014 and ruled areas in Iraq and Syria for five years. A broad international coalition fought back the terrorist militia. Kurdish militias are involved in fighting the jihadists. Erdogan repeatedly talks about the goal of establishing a corridor extending 30 kilometers from the Turkish border into Syria.
As reported, the Islamic group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and militias allied with it captured the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday and overthrew the ruling dictator Assad. A transitional government led by Islamists then took power.
Ankara said it had no control over the HTS group, but made it clear to them that it hoped for a peaceful transition and a new, inclusive Syria.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,
die Kommentarfunktion steht Ihnen ab 6 Uhr wieder wie gewohnt zur Verfügung.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
das krone.at-Team
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.