Gen. Joseph Votel, the U.S. Central Command chief, said on Jan. 29 that the U.S. is not going to pull out its forces from Manbij despite the Turkish threat to launch a military operation against the U.S.-backed SDF there.
Reports say the U.S. has about 2,000 troops deployed in northern Syria embedded with SDF units.
"The tension between the U.S. and Turkey will surely not develop into a war or military confrontation, but it will surely undermine the efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis," Maher Ihsan, a political analyst, told Xinhua.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara in attempts to defuse the tension between the two countries.
"We stand shoulder to shoulder with Turkey against terrorist threats and we salute our partnership with Turkey," Tillerson said in a reconciliatory tone.
"The relations with Turkey are not an alliance of convenience but a time-tested alliance," he added.
However, the U.S. official acknowledged that there is "a bit of crisis point in the relationship" with Turkey.
Following talks with Cavusoglu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tillerson said a working group to tackle the differences would meet by mid-March.
Despite efforts to avert a total breakdown over the Kurdish issue, their interests are conflicting in Syria and both seem unwilling to back off.
【国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Syria turns to be focus of military tussles by major powers】相关文章:
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