Two days after Trump's statement to the ABC News, Erdogan was quoted by local media as saying that Turkish troops would not go any further than al-Bab into the Syrian territory.
In sharp contrast, Erdogan and other top Turkish officials had said in recent past that the Turkish troops would head, after seizing al-Bab, toward YPG-held Manbij and the IS stronghold of Raqqa.
The Turkish forces, backed by the rebel Free Syrian Army militants, have been fighting for months to drive out the IS from al-Bab, a town about 30 km from the Turkish border.
Idlib and Raqqa are among the few major towns which are currently under the control of radical Islamist groups, while the Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, regained control in many towns last year.
Washington sees the Kurdish militias as a reliable ground force against the IS in Syria and militarily supports the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is composed to a large extent of YPG members.
There are signs of increasing military support to Kurds after Trump took office on Jan. 20.
The U.S. has just provided the SDF with armored vehicles for the first time. The move came ahead of an expected joint offensive by the U.S.-led coalition and the SDF against Raqqa, seen as IS' de facto capital.
The armored vehicles will help the SDF forces contend with IS improvised explosives as they move toward Raqqa, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway was quoted as saying by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency late Tuesday.
【国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Turkey will have to face Kurdish autonomy in Syria: analysts】相关文章:
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