Erdogan pressures allies over Syria
TURKEY: Turkey has rushed tanks and heavy weapons to its border and blamed the United States-led coalition for inadequate air support after its forces met fierce resistance in the battle against Islamic State in northern Syria.
Extra troops, armour and howitzers have been sent to Karkamis, from where Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebel groups have launched a crossborder offensive to secure a buffer zone in Syria.
They are now engaged in a ferocious fight for the strategic jihadist bastion of al-bab.
The months-long operation has stumbled over the past week, with Isis sending a wave of suicide bombers to halt the Turkish army’s advance into al-bab, a town Turkey hopes to take under an agreement struck with Moscow. 14 Just hours after the army lost soldiers last Friday, the bloodiest day since the operation began, the terror group released a video showing two Turkish soldiers who had been taken hostage being burnt to death.
It has since claimed to have killed about 70 Turkish special forces troops around al-bab and to have captured two German-made Leopard tanks.
The jihadists are also complicating the advance by using civilians as human shields in the town, which was home to 50,000 people before it was overrun in 2013. At least 30 civilians were killed yesterday in an Isis attack designed to prevent people from fleeing, the Turkish military said.
In response, up to 500 additional Turkish special forces troops are to be deployed to the battle, according to Russian reports. At least 10 artillery units and several tanks have also been deployed.
Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey’s presidential spokesman, criticised the coalition for not doing enough to support Turkish troops and allied forces in the advance.
‘‘The international coalition must carry out its duties regarding aerial support to the battle we are fighting in al-bab. Not giving the necessary support is unacceptable,’’ he said.
Although it has carried out extensive daily attacks on Isis targets across Syria, the coalition has largely shied away from supporting the advance on al-bab.
The US is reluctant to support Ankara in its Syrian mission because of the presence nearby of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the Pentagon is arming and supporting with its own special forces.
Turkey is insisting that the SDF retreat from its positions in the town of Manbij, 50 kilometres to the east of al-bab, a demand the US has backed. The SDF appears reluctant to do so.
Ankara regards the Kurdish contingent of the SDF as a terrorist group tied to the PKK, the Kurdish separatist militia that is waging a bloody insurgency on the Turkish side of the border.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that Turkish forces will turn their attentions to Manbij after al-bab has been taken, and hinted he would seek to put pressure on US President-elect Donald Trump to shift US policy in Syria away from outright support for the Kurds.
‘‘After Manbij comes Raqqa, if we can collaborate with the United States in the new era,’’ he said.
Turkey is trying to secure a wedge of border territory running 140km from the Euphrates to the city of Azaz and extending 50km inside Syrian territory. Ankara wants to create a zone under its control that prevents Kurdish forces from taking control of an unbroken stretch of territory.
The Turkish ground incursion into Syria, codenamed Euphrates Shield and involving elite units supporting friendly militias, progressed swiftly after it was launched in August.
The spat between Turkey and the US threatens to undermine the advance on Raqqa, which is expected to start in the coming weeks. - The Times