The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of senior SDF officials.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has announced that it will coordinate with the Syrian army to counter a possible cross-border operation launched by Turkey.
According to the SDF’s statement, the decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting where senior SDF officials discussed the new cross-border operation that Turkey announced it would launch.
According to Reuters, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that they would conduct a cross-border operation to expel the YPG from the Syrian cities of Tal Rifaat and Manbij.
The YPG makes up the bulk of the SDF’s strength, which controls northeast and east of Syria.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization, while Turkey’s NATO ally, the United States, supports the SDF. The SDF is also acting together with the Syrian government and its ally Russia.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Unal told U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield that the risk of terrorist attacks against Turkey from northern Syria has recently increased and that Turkey cannot be expected to remain indifferent to these attacks.
Statement by Mazlum Abdi
SDF top military official Mazlum Abdi said 2 days ago that SDF forces were “open” to coordinate with Syrian troops to counter Turkey in the cross-border operation, but that Damascus did not need to send troops to the region.
“The most important thing that the Syrian army can do to defend Syrian territory will be to use air defense systems against Turkish aircraft,” Abdi said.
