(Washington) US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday expressed to his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar his “strong opposition” to the launch of a new Ankara offensive in Syria, according to the Pentagon.
Turkey carried out a series of air raids in northeastern Syria on November 20 on the positions of Kurdish fighters, members of groups it describes as “terrorists”. And its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated last week his intention to order, “when the time comes”, a ground offensive.
The secretary “called for de-escalation and shared the Defense Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
He also offered his condolences for the victims of the Istanbul attack, which killed six people and injured more than 80 on November 13.
Turkey accused the Kurds of ordering it, which they denied.
The day before this exchange between Lloyd Austin and his counterpart, the Pentagon spokesman had declared that a ground operation by Turkey in Syria would risk “compromising” the gains of the war against the Islamic State (IS) group in this country.