ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A top official of the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Wednesday asked the United States and France to deploy troops along Syria’s northern border with Turkey. "We ask the French to send troops to this border to secure the demilitarised zone, to help us protect the region and establish good relations with Turkey,” Elham Ahmad, foreign relations co-chair of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES)said in an interview with TV5 Monde. Turkey and the Syrian militia groups it supports, who call themselves the Syrian National Army (SNA), have recently intensified their attacks on areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Manbij, including Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday threatened a renewed offensive against Rojava if alleged members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), deemed terrorists by Turkey and Western allies, do not leave Syria. Turkey alleges that PKK members are among the ranks of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that control Rojava and are the primary allies of the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). "The United States and France could indeed secure the entire border. We are ready for this military coalition to assume this responsibility," Ahmad said. "As soon as France has convinced Turkey to accept its presence on the border, then we can start the peace process," she added. "We hope that everything will be settled in the coming weeks." During Syria’s 13-year civil war, Kurds carved out an autonomous region in the northeast, establishing their own governance system and an armed force, the SDF, which lost an estimated 11,000 fighters in the war against ISIS.
