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U.S. officials have threatened Free Syrian Army (FSA) against participating in the upcoming Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria, the Turkish Anadolu Agency revealed on December 15.
In a message allegedly sent to different FSA factions and to the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SMDK), Washington vowed to strike any group that would participate in the attack and to end its relations with it.
“US forces and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are intertwined so that SDF cannot be attacked without aggression and confrontation with Coalition Forces and U.S. forces and advisers,” U.S. officials said in the message, and added: “When elephants dance, you must stay away from the dance floor.”
In its first response to Turkey’s planned attack against the SDF three days ago, the U.S. warned from “unilateral military action” into northeastern Syria without naming Turkey. The new privet messages to the FSA are much harsher.
During the last few days, opposition sources confirmed that factions of the Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) will participate in the upcoming operation with more than 15,000 fighters.
The NFL and the SNA have not commented on the new U.S. threats yet. However, given the fact that these groups get their financial support from Turkey, the will likely ignore these threats.
An armed conflict between the U.S. and the Turkish-backed FSA may change the entire situation in northern Syria, as the last is relying on Washington’s support to keep Damascus government forces away from its last strongholds in the province of Idlib.
