Nadine Maenza, president of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Secretariat, has slammed the US State Department for its recent call for “all sides” in Syria to “maintain and respect the ceasefire” as Turkish aggression in Kurdish-led regions has recently escalated.
“But only Turkey is violating the ceasefire,” Maenza said via social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. She added that 13 Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters and one civilian have been killed in Turkish offensives since the beginning of July.
Maenza’s comments came after State Department spokesman Matthew Miller responded to a question at a press briefing on Monday about US silence over Turkey’s increased daily attacks on Kurdish-led areas in northern Syria.
Miller acknowledged the negative impact of the “increase in violence” in the region on civilians and on the effectiveness of ongoing operations to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) permanently. He went on to say that the US position remains unchanged and urged “all sides to maintain and respect the ceasefire zones to enhance stability in Syria and work towards a political solution to the conflict”.
In his response, Miller further noted that the US is working closely with Turkey as well as local Syrian partners, namely the SDF, to ensure security in the region. “We share an interest with Turkey in sustainably ending the conflict in Syria, and we have and will continue to consult with them closely on policy,” Miller said.
In light of Turkey’s intensification of military attacks against Kurdish forces in Syria, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has recently called on the US, as the guarantor state of the ceasefire, to have a clear position on Turkish attacks against its forces.
The US State Department’s controversial stance on Turkey’s actions in northern Syria had also sparked outrage last week when Miller denied Turkey’s intentions regarding the demographic composition of the Afrin region and went on to express the US’s gratitude to Turkey for hosting and supporting millions of Syrian refugees.
