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Syria
A Turkish tank is deployed in Sanliurfa province near the Syrian border, October 8, 2019. Photo: Bulent Kilic / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s foreign ministry said Tuesday the Islamic Republic is opposed to any Turkish operation in Syria, claiming it would fail to address Turkey’s security concerns and likely result in human and economic losses.
“Undertaking such a measure will not only fail to remove Turkey’s security concerns but rather cause a huge financial and humane loss,” Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to state media. https://en.irna.ir/news/83508273/Tehran-against-any-possible-military-operation-in-Syria
“Therefore, Iran is against any kind of possible military operation in that case,” the ministry added.
US President Donald Trump appeared to greenlight a long-threatened Turkish operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Sunday night. Critics of the move say America is abandoning its Kurdish allies who died in their thousands to defeat the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Kurdish forces in northern Syria have vowed to resist Turkish attacks, which could drag Ankara into a protracted and costly guerrilla war across multiple fronts.
Although Iran is no fan of the US presence in northern Syria, and has regularly called on Washington to withdraw, it does not want to see further Turkish encroachment on Syrian territory either.
Similar Iranian objections failed to prevent Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operation in 2016 or its Olive Branch operation in 2018.
Alongside Russia, the Iranian government is one of key backers of Bashar al-Assad, who wants to bring every inch of Syrian territory back under his control.
Turkey meanwhile has armed and backed the anti-government opposition and used Syrian proxies to help seize control of Al-Bab, Jarabulus, and Kurdish-majority Afrin. The Turkish military also has outposts in jihadist-held Idlib.
“Hoping that the US move will lead to the restoration of peace and stability in Syria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Iran is ready to contact the Turkish and Syrian officials to remove the concerns peacefully,” the Iranian statement said.
Syria’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the Adana Agreement of 1998 could form the basis for such talks, the ministry added.
The Adana agreement between Turkey’s then-president Suleyman Demirel and Syria’s late-president Hafez al-Assad saw Damascus list the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist group and its leader Abdullah Ocalan expelled from Syria.
Turkey views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as the Syrian branch of the PKK.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the YPG dominates, was outraged by Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the border area, especially after the US convinced Kurdish forces to dismantle their border defenses as part of a planned US-Turkey administered ‘safe zone’.
Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the SDF commander-in-chief, told NBC on Monday the Kurds are considering an alliance with the Syrian regime to ward off the feared Turkish offensive.
“This is one of the options that we have on the table,” Kobani said.
Critics have said pushing America’s Kurdish allies into the arms of the Russian- and Iranian-backed regime would be a strategic mistake.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials have already called on Russia to step in to prevent a catastrophe in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria.
“We are very concerned about the recent developments in Western Kurdistan [northern Syria]. We are in contact with several channels and we will do our utmost to ensure that the people of Rojava are not subjected to any more disasters,” Masoud Barzani, the former president of the Kurdistan Region, said in a tweet Tuesday.
“Undertaking such a measure will not only fail to remove Turkey’s security concerns but rather cause a huge financial and humane loss,” Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to state media. https://en.irna.ir/news/83508273/Tehran-against-any-possible-military-operation-in-Syria
“Therefore, Iran is against any kind of possible military operation in that case,” the ministry added.
US President Donald Trump appeared to greenlight a long-threatened Turkish operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria on Sunday night. Critics of the move say America is abandoning its Kurdish allies who died in their thousands to defeat the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Kurdish forces in northern Syria have vowed to resist Turkish attacks, which could drag Ankara into a protracted and costly guerrilla war across multiple fronts.
Although Iran is no fan of the US presence in northern Syria, and has regularly called on Washington to withdraw, it does not want to see further Turkish encroachment on Syrian territory either.
Similar Iranian objections failed to prevent Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operation in 2016 or its Olive Branch operation in 2018.
Alongside Russia, the Iranian government is one of key backers of Bashar al-Assad, who wants to bring every inch of Syrian territory back under his control.
Turkey meanwhile has armed and backed the anti-government opposition and used Syrian proxies to help seize control of Al-Bab, Jarabulus, and Kurdish-majority Afrin. The Turkish military also has outposts in jihadist-held Idlib.
“Hoping that the US move will lead to the restoration of peace and stability in Syria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Iran is ready to contact the Turkish and Syrian officials to remove the concerns peacefully,” the Iranian statement said.
Syria’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the Adana Agreement of 1998 could form the basis for such talks, the ministry added.
The Adana agreement between Turkey’s then-president Suleyman Demirel and Syria’s late-president Hafez al-Assad saw Damascus list the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist group and its leader Abdullah Ocalan expelled from Syria.
Turkey views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as the Syrian branch of the PKK.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the YPG dominates, was outraged by Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the border area, especially after the US convinced Kurdish forces to dismantle their border defenses as part of a planned US-Turkey administered ‘safe zone’.
Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the SDF commander-in-chief, told NBC on Monday the Kurds are considering an alliance with the Syrian regime to ward off the feared Turkish offensive.
“This is one of the options that we have on the table,” Kobani said.
Critics have said pushing America’s Kurdish allies into the arms of the Russian- and Iranian-backed regime would be a strategic mistake.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials have already called on Russia to step in to prevent a catastrophe in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria.
“We are very concerned about the recent developments in Western Kurdistan [northern Syria]. We are in contact with several channels and we will do our utmost to ensure that the people of Rojava are not subjected to any more disasters,” Masoud Barzani, the former president of the Kurdistan Region, said in a tweet Tuesday.
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