ANKARA, Turkey—Turkey‘s president on Wednesday vowed to expand Ankara‘s operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria beyond the enclave of Afrin and toward the town of Manbij, which would bring Turkish troops and their Syrian allies closer to US forces supporting the Kurds against the Islamic State group.
President Donald J. Trump, in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned Turkey against taking steps that could risk military conflict between US and Turkish forces in Syria and urged the Turkish leader to limit the operation and civilian casualties.
The White House said Trump expressed concerns about the growing violence and told Erdogan it jeopardizes shared US-Turkish goals in Syria and expressed concern about „destructive and false rhetoric coming from Turkey.“ It did not elaborate on that rhetoric.