H\u00fcrriyet Daily News<\/a>, a leading,\u00a0English-language daily in Turkey. “In order to stabilize the region, the Afrin region needs to be cleared of terror elements and terrorists,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nU.S. officials in Baghdad contend there are no signs that YPG fighters within the SDF will abandon the Raqqa campaign to re-enforce areas under siege by Turkish and Turkish partner forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
“Anything that takes their attention away,” that concerns us, Dillon said. But those concerns are not just about the recent military maneuvers by Turkey, it also encompasses actions and troop movements of the Syrian regime and its proxy fighters, Dillon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, a Syrian Su-22 bombed Kurdish positions just south of Tabqa dam a couple weeks ago, which provoked a U.S. response and the downing of the aircraft by a U.S. Navy F\/A 18-Super Hornet. Since then, the coalition has established a deconfliction area with the Syrian regime south of Tabqa, which is still holding, according to Dillon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials in Baghdad say they are unaware of any diplomatic overtures to the Turkish government concerning the military hostilities against the Kurds in northern Syria. However, Brett McGurk,\u00a0the special presidential envoy for the global coalition against ISIS, recently visited Raqqa and talked with the Raqqa Civilian Council and toured the Tabqa dam. He was accompanied by Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the U.S. commander in charge of Operation Inherent Resolve, and British Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, the deputy commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. officials have been vague about the purpose of the visits, and would not confirm whether the meetings had anything to do with the recent developments between Turkey and the YPG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Dillon, the visits by Townsend and Jones were routine. Commanders “routinely move around to get updates” and they were just doing “battlefield circulation,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Department described McGurk\u2019s visit to Syria as routine as well. “Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk visits Iraq and Syria often to discuss humanitarian and stabilization assistance, and to coordinate between our military and civilian initiatives, as well as post-liberation governance for areas liberated from ISIS with our partners on the ground,” said a spokesperson at the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an interview with the\u00a0Dubai-based Arabic news channel\u00a0Al Aan\u00a0TV\u00a0while he was in Syria,\u00a0McGurk acknowledged the U.S. has concerns about disruptions, but said that currently “everything in the Raqqa campaign is [going] according to plan.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n