Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the Western-backed Kurdish YPG militia in Syria of ethnic cleansing in the northern part of the war-torn-country, saying they were trying to put their own people in areas captured from the Islamic State. Cavusoglu said the aim of Turkey’s invasion, with the assistance of Sunni-Muslim Syrian rebels around the towns of Jarabulus and Manbij was to drive out the Islamic State, and that the YPG should immediately move east of the Euphrates river, a demand also voiced by the United States. So immediately YPG should move towards eastern part of Euphrates as promised by the United States and as they (U.S.) explained before, if they won’t move they’ll become a target.” / “But Arabs in Manbij and in that region are not targets. Our common aim is cleansing Daesh (Arabic acronym for Islamic State) from this area,” said Cavusoglu.
The United States has criticized clashes between Turkish forces and some opposition groups in northern Syria as “unacceptable” and called on all armed actors in the fighting to stand down and focus on the fight against the Islamic State. In a press briefing at the White House by deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes, he announced that President Barack Obama is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the side lines of the G-20 summit, scheduled to take place on September 4th in China, during which the two leaders will discuss further cooperation between Washington and Ankara in the battle against the Islamic State, among others.
“Well first of all I think Josh, broadly they’ll be discussing the counter ISIL campaign and the fact that we need to stay united in our efforts to defeat ISIL, that is a shared priority of the U.S. and Turkey and our whole coalition. We’re actively working, the specific question now related to Jarabulus, what I would say is that the United States offered support and has supported the Turkish effort to clear Jarabulus of ISIL fighters and we also would support Turkey’s efforts to secure its border. We do not support, and we would oppose efforts, to move south and engage in activities against the Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF opposition that we have supported. So you know I think our message to Turkey has been clear that we support the objectives laid-out to clear Jarabulus of ISIL fighters, that’s something we’ve talked to Turkey about for some time and to provide space for them to secure their border. Further action against the SDF would complicate efforts to have that united front against ISIL that we want,” said Rhodes.