US Doesn’t Endorse Turkish Operation in Syria, Won’t Help in Any Way

A convoy of United States forces armoured vehicles drives near the village of Yalanli, on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Manbij, in a 2017 file photograph. Deliil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump and the Department of Defense told Turkey, a NATO ally, that the United States does not endorse the Turkish offensive in northern Syria and won’t support the operation in any way.

“The Department of Defense made clear to Turkey—as did POTUS—that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in Northern Syria. The U.S. Armed Forces will not support, or be involved in any such operation,” said Jonathan Rath Hoffman, an assistant to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, in a statement on Oct. 7.