Turkey, Syrian Kurds on track for conflict in northern Syria

Ankara, Turkey — Turkey signaled Tuesday it would step up its engagement in the Syrian war, as Turkish-backed Syrian rebels massed along the border to assault one of the last Syrian frontier towns held by Islamic State militants.

Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusolgu pledged “every kind” of support for operations against IS along a 100-kilometer (62-mile) stretch of Syrian frontier, putting the NATO member on track for a confrontation with U.S.backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, who have been the most effective force against IS and who are eyeing the same territory.

Cavusolgu said Turkey would support twin operations stretching from the Syrian town of Afrin in the northwest, which is already controlled by Kurdish forces, to Jarablus, in the central north, which is held by the Islamic State group.

“It is important that the terror organizations are cleansed from the region,” Cavusolgu said in a joint news conference with his Hungarian counterpart.

Turkish artillery shelled Jarablus for the second consecutive day as reports circulated that Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were preparing to storm the town, a vital supply line and the last border point that directly connects the Islamic State group with Turkey and the outside world.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said some 500 Syrian rebels were massed on the Turkish side of the border in preparation for an assault, including local fighters from Jarablus. One rebel at the border told the BBC the number was as high as 1,500 fighters.

The latest developments have thrust the town into the spotlight of the ongoing Syrian civil war. Jarablus, which lies on the western bank of the Euphrates River where it crosses from Turkey into Syria, is one of the last important IS-held towns standing between Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.

Turkey has increased security measures on its border with Syria, deploying tanks and armored personnel carriers in recent days.

“It is important that the terror organizations are cleansed from the region.” TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER MEVLET CAVUSOLGU