Secretary of Defense Esper blames Turkey for attacks on Kurds, says US has not abandoned them
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in his first public statement on the crisis in Syria, blamed Turkey on Friday for the conflict with the Kurds, a key U.S. ally.
Esper said the United States had "not abandoned the Kurds" when it pulled back this week from a portion of the Turkish border after a phone call Sunday between President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kurdish forces, who fought side by side with U.S. troops against the Islamic State – as recently as last weekend – are under attack as Turkey's military continues to step up assaults on the region.
U.S. and Kurdish soldiers: Side by side days ago, battling ISIS, now the Kurds are under attack
The Trump administration has sent mixed signals about U.S. strategy in the region. The withdrawal, Trump said, fulfilled a campaign promise to end U.S. wars in the Middle East. He disparaged the Kurds for not helping in World War II.
Esper called Erdogan's decision to attack "impulsive."
U.S. forces in the region were shocked by the decision to pull back 50 American troops from the border area, providing an opening for Turkey's attack and ending the joint fight against the Islamic State in that part of Syria. Turkey would have been loathe to attack if it risked killing American troops.
However, Turkish forces fired three artillery shells Friday that landed within a quarter mile of U.S. troops at a small outpost in the city of Kobani, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. No U.S. troops were wounded.
Kobani is located 25 miles west of the front Turkey has opened on the Kurds. The Turkish military knows where U.S. troops are located, so Friday's incident is considered reckless but not a direct attack, the official said. The troops have been moved to a larger, safer base.
On the ground: Turkish strikes hit civilians as Syria offensive intensifies
Trump's order was seen by lawmakers such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as a betrayal of an ally that has suffered 11,000 deaths fighting alongside U.S. troops to roll back the gains the Islamic State had made since 2014. It drew bipartisan condemnation in Congress.
Esper urged Turkey to end the incursion, which he said caused "dramatic harm" to U.S. relations with Turkey, a NATO ally. He called for a diplomatic solution.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces in Syria, estimated at 1,000 troops, would continue to work with Kurds in the Syrian Democratic Forces, but Americans would not intercede between them and the Turks.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kurds: US 'has not abandoned' them, Pentagon says, blames Turkey
