Churches in Syrian enclave say Turkish bombing is killing civilians

The officials said Thursday that contrary to a White House statement, Trump did not voice “concerns (about) escalating violence” over Turkey’s cross-border operation against the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria.

Ankara considers the YPG and PYD in Syria an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the USA, the European Union and Turkey have labeled a terrorist organization.

Turkey’s military, the second largest in NATO, has conducted air strikes and artillery barrages against targets in Afrin, and its soldiers and allied Syrian rebels tried to thrust into the Kurdish-held district from west, north and eastern flanks.

Ankara considers the YPG to be an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-long insurgency in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast.

The militant group has suffered major territorial losses amid separate but simultaneous military campaigns by the Russia-backed Syrian government and the US -backed Kurdish-led forces in eastern and northern Syria.

Kurdish efforts to build their own administration there have also alarmed Damascus, which rejects the idea of autonomy from the central state, and has threatened to crush what Assad called “traitors” to Syria. “The two leaders” discussion of “Operation Olive Branch’ was limited to an exchange of views”, they added.

A student from the University of Manchester has travelled to Syria to fight Islamic State of Iraq and Isil alongside the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey has called the campaign Operation Olive Branch.

In Turkey, two people were killed and 11 were hurt on Wednesday evening after two rockets fired from inside Syria hit a mosque and a home in the border town of Kilis, said local governor Mehmet Tekinarslan.

A senior USA official said that as of Tuesday the Turks had not been ready to engage in detail on such a proposal.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s prime minister, reportedly brushed off the US plea for restraint.

Turkey has demanded that the US extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania who Ankara accused of masterminding an attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016. Hence, President Trump of America needs to warn a fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member that Turkey risks dire outcome if this nation oversteps the mark.

Trump referenced the detention of Americans in his call with Erdogan, the White House said. “We have put on hold all big requests (for arms exports) that Turkey has sent to us, and these are really not a few”, he said.

Erdogan has said that he intends to “foil games along our borders starting from Manbij“. “I can’t see him backing off or ratcheting back the Afrin operation given how much he stands to gain from it”.

The Turkish official said the White House statement did not “accurately reflect the content of” the phone conversation. As regards Manbij, there the Turks will face USA pilots, who will nullify their advantage in the air. While US forces are not officially stationed in Afrin, they are presently 97km away in Manbij.

There have been concerns that the Turkish military and United States forces could end up in a direct confrontation as Ankara’s aerial and ground personnel are pounding targets in the Syrian enclave of Afrin, controlled by Washington-backed Kurdish fighters.