US defense secretary slams Turkey’s Syria operation

BRUSSELS - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has harsh words for Turkey after its operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

His remarks in Brussels Thursday came after spending four tumultuous days engulfed in the chaotic ramifications of the withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

Esper says Turkey's unwarranted invasion into Syria jeopardises security gains made in recent years as the US-led coalition and allied Syrian Kurdish forces battled the Islamic State group. His comments came at the German Marshall Fund.

‘Turkey has put us all in a terrible situation’, Esper told a conference in Brussels prior to a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

The onus, he said, was now on Turkey's NATO allies to "work together to strengthen our partnership with them, and get them on the trend back to being the strong reliable ally of the past."

Esper had previously revealed that the US was conducting a ‘phased withdrawal’, with troops set to ‘temporarily’ reposition in Iraq.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement that American troops may enter the country’s Kurdish region en route home, but refused to grant them permission to remain.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the US is lifting sanctions on Turkey after the NATO ally agreed to permanently stop fighting Kurdish forces in Syria. Esper was in Iraq Wednesday to discuss the withdrawal and the Islamic State threat with Iraqi leaders and his military commanders.