Trump warns Erdogan to avoid clash between US, Turkish forces

US President Donald Trump urged Turkey to curtail its military operation in northern Syria and warned it not to bring US and Turkish forces into conflict on Wednesday but analysts said he has little leverage to halt its NATO ally’s offensive there.

Turkey’s air and ground operation in Syria’s Afrin region, now in its fifth day, targets US-backed Kurdish YPG fighters, which Ankara sees as allies of Kurdish insurgents who have fought in southeastern Turkey for decades.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would extend the operation to Manbij, a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, possibly putting US forces there at risk and threatening US plans to stabilize a swathe of Syria.

Speaking with Erdogan by telephone, Trump became the latest US official to try to rein in the offensive and to pointedly flag the risk of the two allies’ forces coming into conflict.

“He urged Turkey to deescalate, limit its military actions, and avoid civilian casualties,” a White House statement said. “He urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.”

The United States has around 2,000 special forces troops in Syria who were deployed in March.

Erdogan told Trump in the call that the United States must halt weapons support to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, the Turkish president’s office said.