Northern Raqqa offensive

Photo: Al-Alam

The mainly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the start of a long-awaited siege on ISIS stronghold Raqqa, Syria one week after the US confirmed delivery of arms to it.

U.S.-backed forces launched a major move to take Raqqa, the headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria on June 6, with Ankara warning that it will retaliate immediately if the military operation poses a threat against Turkey. 

The Trump administration is ready to press ahead with a U.S.-backed military offensive to evict the Islamic State from its last remaining urban stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa over strong objections from Turkey.

President Donald Trump is expected to inform his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of the U.S. plans when he visits the White House later this month.

A Turkish preparatory delegation is visiting the U.S. on May 5 ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Washington on May 16-17, when he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump. 

The delegation is composed of Chief of General Staff Org. Hulusi Akar, Chief of Intelligence Hakan Fidan and presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın. 

Turkey has repeated its offer to the U.S. to jointly stage the long-anticipated Raqqa operation with the inclusion of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and including Arab forces within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on April 21. 

Damascus will consider any military operation without the approval of the Syrian authorities to be an invasion, be it Raqqa or any other city, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Russian journalists.

Media reports suggested on Wednesday that 1,000 more troops would be sent into Syria to back the offensive against Daesh in the city of Raqqa.

The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria on Feb. 24 to meet a U.S.-backed alliance fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), officials said.

General Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command (Centcom), met with leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Turkey has suggested what it calls a "Mosul model" for the potential Raqqa operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), highlighting that Raqqa is also a predominantly Arab city that must be saved by mostly Arab forces.  

The United States should act in order to fulfill its promise to make Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) forces leave Syria's Manbij in line with Ankara's request or Turkey would have to reconsider an operation there, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık said Feb. 22.

U.S. Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford held a meeting on Feb. 17 with Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar at the İncirlik air base to discuss an offensive to capture Raqqa from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).