Turkey's Erdogan Vows to Press Offensive on U.S.-backed Kurds in Syria by Eric Cunningham – Washington Post
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Monday to keep up an offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish militias in Syria, rejecting American calls for restraint and boasting of a deal with Russia to press ahead with the assault.
Erdogan’s defiant message underscored the deepening rift between the NATO allies over the Kurdish militias and signaled a possible escalation of the latest tensions in Syria’s seven-year conflict.
Turkey sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as linked to insurgents fighting for Kurdish autonomy at home. Washington, meanwhile, has turned to the Syrian Kurds as a proxy force against the Islamic State and a bulwark against efforts by the extremists to reclaim territory.
Turkey on Saturday announced an air and ground offensive to rout the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin, an enclave near the Turkish border. U.S. officials quickly called on Turkey to limit the scope and duration of the operation to avoid civilian casualties.
“We appreciate their right to defend themselves, but this is a tough situation where there are a lot of civilians mixed in,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters while traveling from London to Paris, according to a pool report…