Turkey PM claims Raqqa operation already launched

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim claimed the last phase of a US-backed Arab-Kurdish assault to capture the Islamic State (IS) capital of Raqqa in Syria already began on Friday night.

Yildirim’s statement to members of the Turkish media over a Saturday Ramadan dinner appeared to contradict information coming from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF is as close as three kilometers (1.8 miles) to Raqqa.

Nouri Mahmoud, a spokesperson for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that makes the bulk of the SDF, had earlier in the day told Reuters the major assault on Raqqa would commence “in the coming few days.”

However, the Turkish PM said the American administration notified Turkey of the beginning of the operation, reported the privately-owned NTV news channel.

Late last month, US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for the anti-IS operations, tweeted Americans would not put a timeline but support partner forces when they start attacking Raqqa.

US President Donald Trump authorized the shipment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to the YPG a week before a mid-May meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In other remarks, Yildirim stated Americans had assured him their cooperation with the Syrian Kurdish forces was “tactical and out of a short-term necessity.”

Turkey labels YPG, and by extension the SDF, as “terrorist” for controversial ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) waging a decades-long guerrilla warfare on Turkish troops for larger Kurdish rights.

On Saturday, Erdogan once again expressed his displeasure with the US for supporting the Kurds and threatened an invasion “without asking anyone” if Turkey came under attack.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany