US seeks to spy on Turkey from observation posts along Syrian border

The U.S. seeks to keep a close watch on Turkish territory and protect Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists with its observation posts that are being established along the northern Syrian border under the pretext of helping the country “stave off terror threats.”

Pentagon has established its first observation post in Syria’s Tal Abyad about 2 kilometers away from the Turkish border on a hill, which has a clear view of Turkish soil.

On the opposite side of the border, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) have an observation post in the Turkish village of Öncül, which is just 2-2.5 kilometers away from Washington’s new observation post.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Nov. 21 that the United States was setting up the posts to help keep the focus on clearing the final strongholds of Daesh terrorists in Syria and avert terror threats.

“We want to be the people to call the Turks and warn them if we see something coming out of an area that we’re operating in,” Mattis said.

“We are going to track any threat that we can spot going up into Turkey. That means we will be talking to Turkey’s military across the border,” he stressed.

Evaluating the designated observation posts, a military expert spoke exclusively to Yeni Şafak daily and said, “If their purpose was eliminating potential terror threats targeting Turkey, they would have established those posts at least 15 to 20 kilometers south of the border. This is the system that Turkey proposed to the states as well. No threat warning can be made just 2 kilometers from the border.”

“Installing an observation post just 2 kilometers away from the border is has no significance other than observing Turkey. It is meant to be a surveillance point, not an observation post. It is a protective shield for Democratic Union Party (PYD) terrorists in the east of Euphrates River in Syria,” the source continued.

“The U.S. is overtly planning to make Turkey’s intervention in the east of the Euphrates difficult.”

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in his turn expressed Turkey’s concerns and warned Washington by saying the posts would have "a very negative impact" on bilateral relations in November.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists have accelerated efforts to transfer weapons received from the U.S. under the pretext of fighting Daesh to Syria’s northeastern town of Tal Abyad. The shipments particularly escalated after Turkey started to shell PKK/YPG terror positions in the city and the east of the Euphrates River.

The PYD and its military YPG wing are Syrian branches of the PKK, which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years.