Turkey expelled from Coalition’s air-tasking order in Syria

The Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) has pulled Turkey off the air tasking order and stopped the ISR feed, Radio Sawa reported.

Pentagon Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Carla Gleason announced that US has closed off the airspace along the Syrian border ahead of a likely Turkish incursion.

The decision came amid Turkey’s increasing preparations for an incursion into northern Syria.

Asked if this meant closing the air space for Turkey, Gleason answered; “If you’re not on the air tasking order, it’s really hard to coordinate flights in that area.”

The removal will hinder Turkey’s ability to use aerial support for the country’s planned offensive into the Kurdish-held area in north-eastern Syria along its border.

In a move that has been met with bipartisan protest in the Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that U.S. troops were to withdraw from the border region in north-eastern Syria and Turkey would soon start the long-planned operation.

Turkey has conducted several operations against the Kurdish-held regions since 2016 and currently controls parts of Syrian territory, including the formerly Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin, where a UN report from early 2019 said there are “reasonable grounds to believe that armed group members committed war crimes.”