US's Syria envoy Jeffrey visits PKK in Hasakah as Turkish op looms

U.S. Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey visited northern Syria’s Hasakah after the news of Turkey’s upcoming military operation to boost the morale of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists, according to reports.

Turkey will launch an operation in the east of the Euphrates in a few days to liberate the region from the PKK terrorist organization, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Wednesday.

The terrorists allegedly told Jeffrey, who is the former ambassador to Ankara, that “If Turkey attacks, our fight against Daesh will come to an end.” Jeffrey is expected to stay in the region a while longer and continue his contacts.

Following the meeting with the U.S. envoy, PKK’s so-called Syria spokesman Nuri Mahmoud addressed PKK terrorists and said, “If there is an attack, we will respond. All our forces believe in the revolution.”

PKK’s so-called heads, who often gather together the region’s tribes, are threatening locals, saying that they will seize everything they have if they don’t support the terror group.

U.S. Commander Sean Robertson, in response to the upcoming Turkish operation, said: “Unilateral military action into north-east Syria by any party, particularly as U.S. personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave concern.”

“Our target is never American troops,” Erdoğan had said on Wednesday.

A mission east of the Euphrates, which Turkey’s leadership has been suggesting for months, would follow two successful cross-border Turkish operations into Syria since 2016 – Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch – both meant to eradicate the presence of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists near Turkey’s borders.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.