France lost objectivity on Syrian issue – Turkish FM

Turkey’s recent seizure of the Kurdish-held Afrin region in Syria has strengthened its position in the settlement of Syria’s crisis, through not to the extent that it could go its own way, analysts said.

The U.S. military member killed was the fourth American who has died in Syria since the U.S. began attacking Islamic State militants there in September 2014, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System.

Mr Macron’s offer came after he met a delegation of Syrian and Arab fighters in Paris on Thursday.

Ankara also rejected any French mediation between Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the YPG, which are considered by Turkey as terrorists.

The PKK is a terrorist-designated organization in Turkey, the European Union, and the US.

Earlier Friday, the US military said two coalition personnel were killed and five others wounded by a roadside bomb in Syria without specifying where exactly the attack occurred.

On Thursday the presidency said Macron was offering to mediate between Turkey and the SDF – a suggestion which Erdogan dismissed.

As if Macron’s expression of support was not already enough to enrage Turkey, Kurdish representative Khaled Eissa bluntly stated after the meeting that Macron was ready to send in French commandos to fight the Turks.

Turkey has announced that it will not hesitate to take action if Kurdish forces do not leave the Syrian town of Manbij.

In its ongoing Operation Olive Branch, Turkey has targeted PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists in Afrin, Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border.

He reiterated that the SDF was the same as the PKK/PYD/YPG terror groups, underlining that a change in the name of the groups would not change Turkey’s stance against them.

Following the control, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that Turkey does not intend to stay in Afrin, pointing out that “it will undertake steps to initiate the area and revive it once more through reconstructing both base and superstructure”.

“He was saying weird things and so, even if it was a bit high-octane, I had to tell him some things”, Erdogan said.

But Macron’s office on Friday said it was not planning any new military operation on the ground in northern Syria outside the worldwide coalition against IS.

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