Kremlin tells Kurds: withdraw from border or be ‘mauled’ by Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that Kurdish forces will have to withdraw from the Syria-Turkey border or face being "mauled" by the Turkish Army, adding that the US “betrayed and abandoned” the Kurds.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Tuesday that he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to remove Kurdish fighters from the Turkey-Syria border and carry out joint operations to halt “infiltration of terrorist elements”.

Speaking to Russian news agencies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned of the continued danger facing Kurdish forces if they do not comply with the deal. 

If Kurdish forces fail to withdraw per the Ankara-Moscow agreement, then "Syrian border guards and Russian military police officers will have to pull back,” leaving the Kurds to face their Turkish aggressors, according to Peskov. This will lead to the remaining Kurdish units being “crushed by the Turkish military machine,” he added.

Currently, Syrian forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have an agreement for Russian-backed Syrian troops to be deployed to border areas and into major towns like Kobani and Manbij, in a bid to fend off Turkish aggression.

Turkey launched a military campaign, "Operation Peace Spring", against the US-allied SDF on October 9 after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told President Donald Trump that he was going to invade northern Syria.

Turkey sees the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the SDF, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed force which has fought the Turkish state for decades in pursuit of more rights for the Kurdish minority in Turkey.

The SDF has been a critical partner of the US- led international coalition, losing over 11,000 men and women during the grueling five-year fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). The Kurds said President Trump’s green light to Turkey to invade northern Syria would cause ethnic cleansing. 

"The United States was the closest ally of the Kurds over the past few years. But in the end, the US abandoned the Kurds, actually betraying them," Peskov said. He went on to add that "the US opted to abandon the Kurds on the border, almost forcing them to fight against the Turks."

Mazloum Kobani Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told VOA earlier on Monday that they do not trust the Russians, as they were betrayed by them during Turkey’s offensive in Afrin in early 2018. 

Russia abandoned Afrin at that time, paving the way for Turkish forces to launch a two-month operation against Kurdish fighters.

“We will not depend on Russia,” Abdi said, denying that the deal struck with Syria and Russia will protect the Kurds. "It is quite the opposite; Russia coordinates with Turkey and has paved the way for attack against Kurds in Syria,” he added.