US envoy visited Kurdish-held Syrian north
BEIRUT/ROME - A senior US official visited northern Syria at the weekend to assess progress in the fight against Islamic State, in what appeared to be the first declared visit to Syrian territory for several years by an official from US President Barack Obama's administration.
The trip by Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, may anger neighboring Turkey which is alarmed by the growing sway of Syria's Kurds, fearing it could fuel separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish population.
"We can confirm that Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk completed a two day visit to northern Syria this weekend to assess progress in the campaign to degrade and destroy ISIL," the US official said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
"This visit and the discussions he had are in keeping with the Special Envoy's efforts to continue looking for ways to increase coalition pressure on ISIL," the official said.
