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US envoy holds talks in Ankara as Turkey threatens to invade Syria

James Jeffrey, the special representative on Syria, met with senior Turkish officials amid renewed threats Ankara could send forces to a region controlled by a US-allied militia.
A Turkish soldier stands on top of a tank near the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey, January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC186578FC30

ISTANBUL — The United States dispatched a senior diplomat to Turkey on Monday for talks aimed at averting a unilateral invasion by the Turkish military into northern Syria as tensions near a boiling point following Ankara’s acquisition of a Russian-made missile system that its NATO partners fear foreshadows a split with the West.

A delegation led by James Jeffrey, the US special envoy on Syria, was in Ankara to meet Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Foreign Ministry officials. It was not clear what the talks had produced at the time of publication.

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