US condemns cross-border attack on 'NATO ally Turkey'

WASHINGTON

The US on Tuesday condemned a cross-border attack on Turkish soil and offered condolences for the killings of two Turkish police offers in northern Syria.

"We condemn the cross-border attack against our NATO ally Turkey. We express our condolences to the families of the Turkish national police officers who were killed in Syria," said State Department spokesman Ned Price at a news conference.

"We underscore the importance of maintaining cease-fire lines, and halting cross-border attacks," said Price.

Three mortar shells were fired Monday from an area occupied by YPG/PKK into different locations in the Karkamis district of southeastern Gaziantep province. No casualties took place in the attack, according to the Gaziantep governor's office.

The two Turkish special operations police officers were killed and two others wounded when the PKK’s Syrian offshoot carried out a terror attack Sunday in northern Syria.

The casualties occurred when YPG/PKK terrorists attacked an armored vehicle with a guided missile in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone.

"It is crucial for all sides to maintain and to respect cease-fire zones to enhance stability in Syria, and to work towards a political solution to the conflict," said Price.

Turkey has been carrying out operations against terror groups in northern Iraq and Syria, particularly against the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG.

In northern Iraq, terrorists have been “neutralized” as part of Operation Pence-Simsek and Operation Pence-Yildirim since 2019.

These have been carried out in addition to three successful anti-terror operations across Turkey’s border in northern Syria since 2016: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

*Michael Hernandez contributed to the story