ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United States military was given advance warning by Turkey of their intent to begin airstrikes against the Kurdish-populated canton of Afrin in northwestern Syria, said the US Secretary of Defense James, claiming Ankara had "legitimate" security concerns.
”Turkey was candid,” Mattis told reporters during a flight to Asia on Sunday night. “They warned us before they launched the aircraft they were going to do it, in consultation with us.”
Without disclosing the US stance on the advance notification, Mattis added, “And we are working now on the way ahead. We’ll work this out.”
Mattis added that Turkey has “legitimate” security concerns as it “is the only NATO country with an active insurgency inside its borders” referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK is a listed terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU that has waged a three-decades-long guerrilla insurgency against the Turkish government.
Turkey claims the PKK is the parent organization of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish-led armed wing of the political party PYD in Syria, claims the YPG denies.
Turkey launched airstrikes against various parts of the Kurdish-controlled Afrin canton, which began on Saturday, in what Ankara calls “Operation Olive Branch.”
Afrin is the western-most canton of the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The YPG is in control of Afrin, a force that received fame for defeating ISIS in Syria. ISIS currently has had little to no recent presence in Afrin.
Ankara has said that they will not allow a “terror corridor” on its southern borders.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called the “brutal aggression” of the Turkish military in Afrin as supporting “terrorism.”
The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to address the aggression.
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