SOHR: US, Russia Discuss Possible Escalation In NE Syria With Turkey

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned Spokesperson and Chief Advisor to the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin against any further escalation in Syrian north.

This came in a phone call between the two officials on Monday.

On May 23, Erdogan announced taking steps to complete the remained portions of the “safe zone” plan along Turkey’s southern border saying, “We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete portions of the project we started on the 30-km deep safe zone we established along our southern border.”

Erdogan claimed that whenever intelligence and security preparations are completed, the operation will begin.

Sullivan reiterated the importance of refraining from escalation in Syria to preserve existing ceasefire lines and avoid any further destabilization.

Due to American and Russian pressure, Turkey has not started the operation yet, leading to a delay, according to a source of the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition National Army (SNA).

Another phone call took place on Tuesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, where they discussed Ankara’s planned military operation in northern Syria and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Following Turkish invasion of the two cities of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad in October 2019, Turkey signed two ceasefire agreements, one with Russia and the other with the US stipulating ceasing all hostilities and the withdrawal of the SDF 32 km away from the Turkish border.

The SDF withdrew from the border areas according to the agreement, but Turkey continues targeting the area before the eyes of Russian and the US which are the guarantors of the agreements.

The US Department of State said on May 24 that any new Turkish escalation in north Syria “would further undermine regional stability and put at risk US forces and the coalition’s campaign against ISIS.”

The Turkish president has threatened to invade the SDF-held areas seven times between October 2019 and May 2022, according to a statistic released by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).