Syrian Democratic Forces

Secretary of Defense James Mattis has a difficult task ahead. In a visit to Turkey Wednesday, he will step into the thicket of competing interests that characterizes one of America’s most important military partnerships. At the center of the difficulty is American efforts in Syria, which rely fundamentally on a collection of local forces among whom are actors Turkey considers terrorists.

Syrian Kurds are taking critical steps to deal with the threat of being caught in a vise between their worsening relations with the Damascus regime, and Turkey’s possible cross-border operations. Syria’s Kurds have just proposed a new governmental structure comprising three federal regions and six cantons in the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria (previously known as Rojava).

Russia's air force has destroyed a large column of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants on their way to the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, killing over 200 militants, Russian news agencies cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Aug. 21.

The United States has no intention to extend its presence in Syria after defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has said, denying the Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) comments that U.S. forces may remain in the country with long-term intentions. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has criticized the United States for its support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), arguing that the weapons the U.S. provided in Syria "have ended up in Turkey."

In this picture relased by the US Department of Defence, US Army Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division scan the landing zone for possible hostile forces 26 August 2005.

Washington’s main Syrian ally in the fight against Islamic State says the U.S. military will remain in northern Syria long after the jihadists are defeated, predicting enduring ties with the Kurdish-dominated region.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım chaired a security meeting on Aug. 9 with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Customs and Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkci, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and intelligence chief Hakan Fidan.  

About 2,000 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants are estimated to remain in the Syrian city of Raqqa, fighting for their survival in the face of an offensive by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a senior U.S. official said on Aug. 4.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara has denied recent Turkish media reports that the U.S. had sent arms to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, stressing that Washington was fully transparent to Turkey about the weapons sent to the group.