ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Despite Turkey's vows to the contrary, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that he was confident the two nations can agree on a way to protect U.S.-allied Kurdish rebels in Syria after American troops withdraw from the country.
After speaking to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Pompeo said an agreement was a work in progress but can be achieved in a way that allows the Turks to defend their country while leaving alone Kurds who do not pose a threat.
Separately, artillery shelling by government forces pounded parts of the northwestern Idlib province on Saturday, thwarting an infiltration attempt by militants as tension rises in the region after victories by al-Qaida-linked militants against Turkey-backed opposition fighters, Syria's state news agency reported.
The violence came as officials in neighboring Turkey said efforts are being exerted to maintain stability in Idlib.
The top U.S. diplomat said he was "optimistic" that Kurds who fought alongside U.S. forces against the Islamic State group in Syria are not threatened by pledges from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to open military operations against whom he terms Kurdish "terrorists."
"We recognize the Turkish people's right and President Erdogan's right to defend their country from terrorists and we also know that those who aren't terrorists, those who were fighting alongside us all this time, deserve to be protected and we are confident that we can achieve an outcome that achieves both of those: protect the Turks from legitimate terror threats and prevent any substantial risks to folks who don't present terror risks to Turkey," Pompeo told reporters.
"We had this conversation, many details still to be worked out but I am optimistic we can achieve a good outcome," Pompeo said of his call with Cavusoglu from Abu Dhabi, where he was on the fourth leg of a nine-nation Mideast trip.
He offered no details, but said the U.S. special envoy for Syria and the anti-Islamic State coalition, Jim Jeffrey, had traveled to northern Syria earlier this month to work on the matter and would be returning to Turkey to continue the discussions.
Turkey considers many of Syria's Kurdish groups to be terrorists and has pledged to attack them. The threats have intensified in recent days as the U.S. begins the withdrawal process from Syria on President Donald Trump's orders.
On a visit Friday to Turkish troops stationed near the Syrian border, Turkey's defense minister, Hulusi Akar, said his country was "determined" to fight Kurdish militias it considers terrorists. He said military preparations were ongoing.
Pompeo and U.S. national security adviser John Bolton have made similar assurances to the Kurds, which have been denounced by Erdogan and other Turkish officials.
Comments by Bolton on the matter drew a quick rejection last week from Erdogan, who said they were a "serious mistake" and that Turkey "cannot make any concessions in this regard."
Turkey insists its military actions are aimed at Kurdish fighters in Syria -- the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units -- whom it regards as terrorists, and not against the Kurdish people. That has been Turkey's longtime position. Turkey has rejected any role for Kurdish fighters in restoring peace to the war-torn region.
SHELLING, CASUALTIES
SANA, the Syrian news agency, said the shelling Saturday in Idlib focused on the areas of Zarzour near the border with Turkey and Tamanaa near Maaret al-Numan, which was taken last week by al-Qaida-linked militants from Turkey-backed opposition fighters. It reported casualties among the militants.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the government shelled six areas in and near Idlib province.
Earlier this month, members of the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee took over control of the province and the surrounding countryside after forcing rival insurgents to accept a deal for a civil administration run by the Levant Liberation Committee in their areas.
The developments threaten to derail a cease-fire in the area reached in September between Turkey and Russia that averted a potentially catastrophic Syrian army assault on Idlib.
The deal required jihadi groups to vacate a front-line buffer zone, a move that was never implemented by al-Qaida-linked militants.
Earlier Saturday, Akar, Turkey's defense minister, met with commanders and the head of the country's intelligence services in the southern Hatay province bordering Syria's Idlib.
"All efforts are being made to continue stability and the cease-fire in line with the Sochi agreement," Akar said, referring to a September agreement between Turkey and Russia to set up a buffer zone in Idlib. "Our close cooperation with Russia on this issue continues," the minister said.
Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said Turkish troops dispatched from units across the country were undergoing training at the border in Hatay.
The Syrian government has repeatedly threatened to start an offensive to recapture Idlib province, which is packed with 3 million people, including many who were displaced from other parts of the country.
The latest advances by the Levant Liberation Committee, which includes many foreign fighters, raise questions over the future of the cease-fire.
In the capital, Damascus, the Foreign Ministry sent two letters to the U.N. secretary-general and the president of the U.N. Security Council over Israeli airstrikes that hit areas south of the city the night before.
"This treacherous aggression comes within the framework of Israeli attempts to prolong the crisis in Syria," the ministry said.
Israel did not comment on the airstrikes, the first this year, that Syrian state media outlets said hit a warehouse near Damascus' international airport without inflicting casualties.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes targeted an area near the airport while others hit the area of Kiswa, which is home to positions and storage sites for Iranian and Hezbollah forces allied with Syria's government.
Israel's outgoing army chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, told The New York Times in an interview published Friday that Israel "struck thousands of targets without claiming responsibility or asking for credit." Eisenkot retires today.
Israel's government approved a change in tactics in January 2017, stepping up airstrikes in Syria, Eisenkot was quoted as saying. Israel's air force dropped 2,000 bombs in 2018 alone, he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Albert Aji, Zeynep Bilginsoy and Bassem Mroue of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/13/2019