ALLIES: Turkey summons US envoy over remarks on Syria operation.
“It has been underlined that such statements are by no means acceptable and that they do not comply with the alliance relationship,” read a statement issued by Tanju Bilgiç, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, late on Aug. 30.
Bilgiç’s statement came after Ash Carter, the U.S. secretary of defense; Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy on the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); and spokespersons from the Department of Defense and the White House each urged Turkey to stop clashing with the PYD.
Turkey’s concerns over such remarks were dispatched to Bass by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ferdiun Sinirlioğlu on Aug. 30.
“The objectives of the Euphrates Shield Operations are known,” Bilgiç said, adding that Turkey would continue until all “terror groups” are pushed away from the Turkish border so that they will not be able to “pose a threat to Turkish citizens.”
Translation: Turkey will continue using the ISIS threat as an excuse to pound Syria’s Kurdish fighters.