The US opposes military action that destabilizes Syria
The United States opposed any military action that destabilized the situation in Syria, a State Department spokesman said, as quoted by Reuters.
He added that Washington had communicated to Ankara its serious concerns about the impact of such an offensive on the goal of fighting the Islamic State.
“We have urged Turkey to refrain from such operations, just as we have urged our Syrian partners to refrain from attacks or escalation,” the Department spokesman said.
“We continue to oppose any military action that destabilizes the situation in Syria or violates Iraq’s sovereignty through military action that is not coordinated with the Iraqi government. We also oppose the recent attacks in southern Turkey that reportedly resulted in the deaths of scores of civilians,” the spokesman said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned of a possible ground operation in Syria in response to a blast in central Istanbul that killed six people and wounded 81. Turkey has already launched airstrikes against PKK fighters and Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria and Iraq.
At least 31 people were killed in nighttime raids yesterday in northern and northeastern Syria, the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
