US State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed his country's desire to continue working with Turkey to eliminate the Islamic State in Syria, but stressed Washington's support for Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
This came in response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statements regarding his country's security concerns about the Turkish presence east of the Euphrates, and his demand for US forces to withdraw from northern Syria.
Price said that the Kurds are an important part of the international coalition against ISIS, and have contributed to the gains on the ground.
"We have common goals in Syria with our Turkish partners, and one of these main goals is to eliminate ISIS and extremist elements inside Syria, and we do not want to jeopardize this endeavor," he added.
He added that the US alliance is broad and diverse, "and our Kurdish partners are an important part of this alliance, which contributed to achieving gains on the ground against ISIS, and that is why we want to continue working with Turkey as a close security partner to alliance our goals in Syria."
Turkey's position
The Turkish president had confirmed in previous statements that the file of the military operation in northern Syria will remain on Turkey's agenda until its national security concerns are dispelled.
The Turkish president called on the US forces to withdraw from the areas east of the Euphrates River in Syria, explaining that their withdrawal would make "fighting terrorism easier."
He added that Turkey, Russia and Iran will inevitably unite against the terrorist organizations "PKK" (the Kurdistan Workers' Party), "PYD" (the Democratic Union Party, a branch of the Workers' Party) and "YPG" ( YPG) (Kurdish People's Protection Units), which is currently exploiting oil wells east of the Euphrates and selling them to the Syrian regime.
The Turkish president accused the United States of continuing to support "terrorist organizations, including during the era of previous presidents, with thousands of trucks loaded with weapons, equipment and ammunition."
Iranian-Russian demands
In contrast to the Turkish position, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian expressed his concern over the possibility of Turkish military operations in northern Syria.
However, during a press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Miqdad, he called on the US forces to leave Syrian territory, and considered that "the United States is pretexting the fight against ISIS to justify its presence on Syrian territory. This region enjoys many wealth and sources of energy and oil security in Syria."
He said that Washington plundered the wealth of the Syrians from these areas, "and the American forces should leave the Syrian territories without conditions and immediately."
On Tuesday, the Russian president called on the US forces to leave eastern Syria, and accused the United States of stealing Syrian wealth, including oil, and selling it abroad.
"We must work to spread stability in Syria, secure long periods of stability and return areas outside the control of the Syrian state," Putin added.
It is noteworthy that the presence of hundreds of American soldiers in the areas of northeastern Syria in order to support the Kurdish People's Protection Units, which controls these areas, and the eastern regions of the country include American bases.
There is also a US military presence in the Al-Tanf area on the Syrian borders with Jordan and Iraq, where the Al-Tanf military base of the international coalition to fight ISIS is located.