Blinken and Fidan spoke after US military shot down Turkish drone over Syria

(Patria) - Top US and Turkish diplomats spoke by phone after US forces in Syria
shot down an armed Turkish drone, the BBC reported.

Washington said the drone came too close to its ground forces in Syria, but Ankara only said it was lost during operations.

During the conversation between NATO allies, Hakan Fidan said that Turkey will continue to target Kurdish groups. The United States works with the Kurdish YPG forces in Syria, but Turkey considers them separatists and terrorists. Fidan told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Turkey's counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria will continue decisively.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US State Department said that Blinken stressed the need for Washington and Ankara to coordinate and de-escalate their activities.

On Thursday, US military officials said a US F-16 fighter jet shot down an armed Turkish drone operating near US troops in Syria after several warnings.

Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said that US forces observed several drones carrying out airstrikes near Al Hasakah in northeastern Syria. Some of the strikes were approximately one kilometer away from US troops, prompting them to take shelter in bunkers, Ryder said. Four hours later, an F-16 shot down the drone after commanders assessed there was a potential threat, he said.

"It is regrettable when you have two NATO allies and an incident like this occurs," he told reporters. This was the first such incident between two NATO allies.

Around 900 US soldiers are operating in Syria as part of the mission against the Islamic State (IS) group.

Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq after a suicide bombing hit its Interior Ministry in Ankara. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating it was carried out by a group affiliated with them.

The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the US. Turkey views the PKK and YPG as the same group. However, the US has worked with the YPG, which is part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), fighting IS in Syria.

Shortly after the phone call between Blinken and Fidan, Turkey announced it had launched new strikes on targets in northern Syria. The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that it had hit 15 Kurdish targets with the "maximum amount" of ammunition, including "headquarters and shelters."