The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned the US ambassador, demanding an explanation for the visit of a top US general to northeast Syria on Saturday, the Cumhuriyet reported.
Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited a US base in the Kurdish-controlled region of northeast Syria, to evaluate the mission led by armed Kurdish groups against the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2014.
During the visit, reporters asked Milley whether the deployment of roughly 900 US troops in northeast Syria was worth the risk.
Referring to the security of the United States and tying it to the situation in Syria, Milley said, “If you think that that’s important, then the answer is ‘Yes’,”.
“I think that an enduring defeat of ISIS and continuing to support our friends and allies in the region … I think those are important tasks that can be done,” he added.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) forms the backbone of US-led alliance forces fighting against ISIS in Syria.
Turkey sees the YPG and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as a threat to its national security, arguing that they are extensions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The partnership between US troops and Kurdish groups in Syria has seriously damaged the relationship between Ankara and Washington in recent years.