Pompeo warns Turkey against striking Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Wednesday of "devastating" results if Turkey strikes Syria as he met in Washington with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"Secretary Pompeo expressed support for ongoing negotiations regarding northeast Syria, while warning of the potentially devastating consequences of unilateral Turkish military action in the region," the State Department said in a statement after their talks.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to hit the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, who joined Western forces in battling ISIL but which Ankara links to the separatist PKK movement at home.

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walks past damaged vehicles on the side of a road in the village of Baghouz in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province near the Iraqi border on March 24, 2019. /VCG Photo

Fears for the safety of the fighters has led the United States to delay President Donald Trump's decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria.

Cavusoglu was visiting Washington as part of 70th-anniversary celebrations for the NATO alliance.

Speaking at a forum earlier in the day, Cavusoglu said bluntly when asked if he thought the United States had a clear policy in Syria: "No, and this is the problem."

(Top image: Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) as they pose for a photo during their meeting in Washington, U.S., on April 3, 2019. /VCG Photo)

(AFP)