Alwaght-Turkey has warned that Untied States troops fighting alongside Syrian Kurdish militias in the same uniform may be targeted by the Turkish army due to the difficulty of distinguishing them in the heat of battle.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag has issued the stark warning when Turkish troops are making further advances into the Kurdish-held Syrian province of Afrin as part of ‘Operation Olive Branch’.
Previously, Ankara complained that the American troops’ embedding with Kurdish militias – regarded as terrorists in Turkey – is unacceptable for the US-Turkish alliance. Turkey is also a member of the US-led Nato military alliance.
Bozdag said if US troops wear “terrorists’ clothes” and find themselves among “terrorists” of the Kurdish YPG forces attacking the Turkish troops, “there is no chance that we [will] make a distinction at this point.”
He stressed that any person bearing weapons and fighting alongside the Kurds “is our target.” However, Bozdag added neither side wants open confrontation. Ankara has made it clear that US troops present in the area should stay away from where the Turks operate, and should not assist their Kurdish allies, he said.
“We are clearly saying that we do not want to confront our ally, the United States. I am sure that they do not want to face Turkey and Turkish armed forces,” Bozdag stated.
There have been numerous reports suggesting US Special Forces (SOF) teams use the insignia of Kurdish paramilitary groups.
The US Defense Department says, the Pentagon, claims “insignias and other identifying marks with their partner forces” were being worn in order to “blend in with the community.”
Turkey has been waging “Operation Olive Branch” against Syria’s Afrin region since January 20 in a bid to eliminate the US-backed YPG, which Ankara views as a terror organization and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The latter has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.
The YPG forms the backbone of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed anti-Damascus militant group.
The Syrian government has condemned the “brutal Turkish aggression” against Afrin, rejecting Ankara’s claim about having informed Damascus of the operation.
