Obama ’Concerned’ about Ground Gains in Syria, Urges Stopping Actions Upsetting Turks

Local Editor

US President Barack Obama sided with Turkey warning the Syrian Kurdish army not to seize more territory in Syria to avoid upsetting Ankara or the so-called "moderate" opposition.

Voicing support against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, in a long phone conversation that lasted 80 minutes, Obama told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the US has an "unwavering commitment" to Turkey's "national security."

An official statement from the White House noted Obama as saying he is "concerned" about the Syrian Army's and Kurdish fighters' gains in northern Syria as he "urgently called for a halt to actions that heighten tensions with Turkey and with "moderate" opposition forces in northern Syria."

Obama further claimed that the ongoing advance of the Syrian army and Kurdish forces, with support from the Russian Air Force, could "undermine our collective efforts in northern Syria to degrade and defeat "ISIS"."

At the same time, both men called on Moscow and Damascus to halt airstrikes against what they describe as "moderate opposition forces."

Vowing retaliation in both Syria and Iraq for the Ankara bombing earlier this week, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu promised to continue bombing the Kurds, including PKK bases in northern Iraq and YPG positions in northern Syria. Ankara also made it clear that it expects cooperation from its NATO allies to assist Ankara in this fight.

Ironically, before the phone conversation, Erdogan announced that American weapons were being used against civilians by the YPG, which was denied by the US State Department.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team