Turkey concerned US's reckless actions will disrupt anti-DAESH fight
A member of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). As Operation Euphrates Shield continues against DAESH, some groups withdrew from the operation in reaction to the U.S.'s support for the YPG, a threat to Syria's terrotorial integrity.

As Turkey-backed FSA rebels continue to fighting DAESH, Ankara is concerned that the U.S.'s reckless moves including supporting YPG terrorists in northern Syria and bombing regime soldiers, can disrupt the fight against DAESH



A long list of blunders by the U.S. administration is jeopardizing the fight against DAESH while alienating countries that are striving to end the five-year civil war in Syria. The latest blunder, the attack by U.S. jets that killed at least 90 regime soldiers, has put the ceasefire negotiated between Washington D.C. and Moscow in jeopardy.This follows the Obama administration's confusing handi-off approach in the beginning of the civil war that allowed the violence to escalate, allowing the creation of DAESH, continuing with openly supporting the PKK terrorist group's Syrian affiliate People's Protection Units (YPG) to fight the extremist group.The U.S. has succeeded in alienating the moderate Free Syrian Army (FSA), Russia and Turkey over the years in a perplexing strategy that has snowballed into the current lack of policy. While the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) advances toward the strategic city of al-Bab as part of Operation Euphrates Shield, Ankara fears the U.S.'s recent feckless moves in Syria could hurt the fight against DAESH. On Saturday, at least 90 Syrian regime soldiers were killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike at an army position near Deir al-Zour airport. Russia called an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting late Saturday to demand an explanation from the U.S., accusing the U.S. of violating agreements that it would not target Syrian army positions.

U.S. Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook said the pilots believed they were striking DAESH targets. After the strike, Russia said that it could jeopardize the Russia and the U.S.- brokered cease-fire in Syria that took effect on Monday.Meanwhile, on Saturday, three Syrian opposition groups announced that they are withdrawing from Operation Euphrates Shield as they refuse to work with American Special Operations Forces (SOF) due to their support for the People's Protection Units (YPG) terrorists, the armed wing of the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as they aim to create a separatist area in the northern Syria."It is not clear what the U.S. has been trying to do in Syria. For a long time, the only strategy from the U.S. in Syria is to support the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) terrorists against DAESH, another terrorist group, and impose a federalized Syria solution to the actors in the Syria," said Can Acun, a researcher of Middle Eastern politics at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA). He said that after Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield and swept DAESH from its borders, and implicitly reached an agreement with Iran and the Assad regime in terms of Syria's territorial integrity, all actors including the U.S. started to reconsider their strategies.Acun also added that whether the U.S. intentionally hit regime troops or not, it has created a complicated scene. "If the U.S. strike regime forces deliberately attacked, it means they gave a message to the actors in the field, even though that is hard to clear up. If they hit them accidentally, that means the U.S. did this mistake while supporting the Assad regime, which opposes its discourse," he concluded.Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan on Wednesday acknowledged that the U.S. does not have an any solution for the Syrian crisis, stressing that the crisis, already in its sixth year, will likely wear on for several more, in his interview with Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank.The U.S. support to the YPG in northern Syria is one of the prominent reasons to enhance the deadlock in the region. Three Syrian opposition groups in Syria, Ahrar al-Sharqiya Suqour al-Jabal and Tal Rifaat said that they are withdrawing from Operation Euphrates Shield on Saturday as they refuse to work with American Special Operations Forces (SOF) due to their support for the YPG.In a statement released by Ahrar al-Sharqiya, the group said, "We [the groups] are not aware of the entry of U.S. troops into northern Syria and are surprised by their presence in al-Rai. The reply that came from Ahrar al-Sharqiya members and other factions was that they rejected this intervention, due to their support for the separatist gangs of the PYD, which plans to destroy the unity of the Syrian land."On Friday, footage surfaced that showed U.S. forces fleeing opposition forces in the town of al-Rai near the Turkish border due to their support for the YPG, an organization allied with Syria's Bashar Assad and fighting against the Syrian opposition.Despite these negative incidents, Turkey's fight against DAESH continues, as FSA is advancing toward al-Bab after it secured the Azaz-Jarablus line near the Turkish border in less than two weeks.On Saturday, Turkish warplanes destroyed three targets belonging to DAESH terrorists in northern Syria, the military said. According to military sources, an air operation was conducted Saturday between 11.53 a.m. and 12.26 p.m., which resulted in the destruction of three DAESH targets in Tatimus and Kunah Tira regions. The Turkish warplanes safely returned to their base at the end of the operation.Meanwhile, the moderate opposition FSA forces also managed to take control of the Tatimus and Kunah Tira regions, which lie west of al-Rai, a town that has been heavily contested between the FSA and DAESH since March. The operation in the region has been underway since 1 p.m. Military sources noted that five opposition fighters have been killed and six were injured as a result of improvised explosives in the Tatimus region on Friday.The FSA is expanding operations to al-Bab due to its geostrategic position between the cities of Manbij and Aleppo. Seizing al-Bab is vital for Turkey as well. Despite having secured the northern border of Syria by pushing DAESH back towards the south, the Turkish-backed FSA controls a mere 10 kilometers in that direction.