Senator John Nelly Kennedy criticized Turkey for funding mercenaries to fight against the Syrian Democratic Forces, addressing the Turkish president and warning, “You hate the Kurds, but leave them alone, the Kurds are a special people and Turkey is trying to invade Syria.” His comments came in reply to Turkish President Erdogan’s speech yesterday where he hinted Turkish military may attack Kurdish canton of Kobane, or Raz al Ain.
Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are threatening sanctions against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unless Ankara forces Syrian opposition fighters into a ceasefire with U.S-backed Kurdish partners in the northeast of the country, as the country roils from the fall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Despite being in a military alliance with the United States via the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkey’s main target in Syria is also the United States’ ally in the country — the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.
For years, the SDF has worked with U.S. forces to fight Islamic State in Syria’s northeast, defeating IS in its final holdout, Baghuz, near Syria’s Iraqi border, in March 2019.
Roughly 900 U.S. troops are deployed alongside Kurdish-led forces to keep IS from reestablishing a geographical foothold, and the Kurds oversee prisons housing thousands of IS fighters and their families.
Yet, Turkey views the People’s Defense Units, or YPG, which make up most of the SDF’s fighting force, as an extension of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The PKK has been engaged in an insurgency in southeast Turkey for decades, sometimes resorting to violence in its pursuit of more autonomy and rights for ethnic Kurds. Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union all view the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Incursion may be imminent
When asked if Ankara was considering another ground operation into northern Syria, an anonymous official said that Turkey sees a threat to its borders from northern Syria.
“Our preparations and precautions as part of the fight against terrorism will continue until the PKK/YPG lays down its arms and its foreign fighters leave Syria,” the official said.
Ankara has followed through by amassing troops on its border with Syria, with a senior U.S. official telling The Wall Street Journal on Dec. 17 that Turkey could attack Kurdish forces within hours or days, a view shared by most of the Turkish press. Some experts suggest the military attack will be timed with the return of Erdogan from D-8 summit in Cairo. Others claim Ankara is in talks with Hayat Tahrir al Sham to obtain its consent or even participation in a potential ground offensive.
As Turkey potentially prepares for a broader assault, the future of U.S. support for the Kurds remains unclear. On Dec. 16, President-elect Donald Trump characterized the ouster of Assad as an “unfriendly takeover” by Turkey, but the portion of the speech devoted to Erdogan suggests this was a compliment rather than an expression of frustration.
During his first term, Trump sought to withdraw U.S. forces supporting the Kurds in 2018 and 2019. In November, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps’s pick for health secretary, said Trump wanted to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria, and not leave them there as “cannon fodder” if fighting erupted between Turkish and Kurdish forces.
Kurds ‘stand to lose the most’
While analysts view Turkey as one of the primary benefactors of the collapsed Assad regime, the Kurds “stand to lose the most,” from their autonomy to the security of their communities, Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, told France 24 on Dec. 5.
Various press sources, PA Turkey
Follow our English language YouTube videos @ REAL TURKEY: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpFJB4GFiNkhmpVZQ_d9Rg
And content at Twitter: @AtillaEng
Facebook: Real Turkey Channel: https://www.facebook.com/realturkeychannel/