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US Defense Secretary Blasts Erdogan for 'Unnecessary' Syria Incursion

VOA News

   Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.

   U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says Turkish President Recep Tayyip
   Erdogan "bears full responsibility" for the resurgence of Islamic
   State, a growing humanitarian crisis, and possible war crimes.

   This was the Pentagon's strongest condemnation so far of Turkey's
   military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

   Esper calls Turkey's attacks on the Kurds "unnecessary and impulsive."
   He says it has undermined what he calls the "successful" multinational
   mission to defeat Islamic State in Syria by allowing "many dangerous
   ISIS detainees" to flee detention camps that had been guarded by the
   Kurds.

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