US Defence Secretary says, 'Turkey heading in wrong direction'

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper warned Turkey that it was 'heading in the wrong direction' in regards to Syria, on October 24. He referred to its attack on Syria and the deal with Russia to patrol a 'safe zone' together. He said Turkey has put everyone in a very bad situation by launching an offensive in northern Syria against the Kurdish militants who are actually an ally of the United States in their battle against the Islamic State. Esper while speaking at a conference in Brussels ahead of a NATO defence Ministers' meeting said, "I think the incursion's unwarranted". 

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No war against a NATO ally

There was a burden on Turkey's NATO allies now to work together and strengthen the partnership. He said the responsibility now was to get them back on track to be the strong ally that it used to be in the past. The deal between Russia and Turkey is reportedly to get rid of Kurdish militia which the latter considers 'terrorists'. Esper recently repeated Donald Trump's defence of abandonment of the Kurdish fighters who had to bear the consequences of the American campaign against the Islamic State in Syria. These fighters were pushed to run away from the cities which they run in Syria amid the Turkish offensive against them. He stated that America was against the Turkish invasion but they will not go for a war opposite a NATO ally for a land that they did not sign up to defend at first. 

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US Troops exiting Syria to stay 'temporarily' in Iraq

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on October 22 that the American troops withdrawing from Syria will temporarily stay in Iraq before getting back to the United States. "The US decision to withdraw less than 50 soldiers from the zone of attack was made after it was made very clear to us that President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan made the decision to come across the border", he said. He added, "I was not about to put less than 50 US soldiers in between a 15,000-man-plus Turkish army preceded by Turkish militia and jeopardise the lives of those servicemen. Nor was he about to start a fight with a NATO ally", he said. Esper stated the matter is under discussion for now and it needs to be done soon. 

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(With inputs from PTI)