Syria
A convoy of US military vehicles drives through the Syrian northeastern town of Qahtaniyah on the border with Turkey on October 31, 2019. Photo: Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - While Turkey threatens a new offensive in northeast Syria (Rojava), the commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has said that they were given reassurances by the United States and Russia that permission would not be given to Turkey to attack Rojava.
“Erdogan has always sought the support of international actors before embarking on a military intervention here. He’s made threats and continues to make threats. He insists he will intervene and will continue to insist,” Mazloum Abdi told Al-Monitor journalist Amberin Zaman in an article published on Tuesday.
“In my view, unless Turkey gets the approval of either Russia or the United States, Erdogan cannot take such a step. And as far as I am aware there is no such approval,” added Abdi.
Turkey has been threatening a new offensive against Kurdish forces in Rojava for several weeks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in October said he had “no patience” with Kurdish forces in Tal Rifaat, a pocket of territory in the northern Aleppo countryside. Ankara considers the SDF a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a threat to its national security.
Abdi added that they were given “assurances” by the United States that they “would not accept” a Turkish attack against Rojava. “They informed us that during the last meeting between Erdogan and President Joe Biden [on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome] that Erdogan was told that the United States would not accept any attack against us,” he said.
“The Russians also told us that they had not made any deals with Turkey. They did say though that Turkish-backed [Syrian National Army] forces might attack us rather than the Turkish military per se. They actually gave us a date. They were supposed to attack us today [November 5] but nothing happened,” explained Abdi.
Moscow and Washington brokered separate ceasefire agreements to end the 2019 Turkish incursion into Rojava, the goal of which was to push Kurdish forces back from the Syria-Turkey border around the cities of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad). Turkey is now threatening another offensive.
Locals in Rojava accused ceasefire guarantors Russia and the United States of staying silent in the face of the Turkish threats. More than a dozen villages have been reportedly emptied and the SDF reported “provocative mobilizations” of Turkish-backed Syrian militias along the frontlines between the two sides on Monday.
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