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Turkey
Turkish soldiers prepare an armored vehicle as Turkish armed forces drive towards the border with Syria in Sanliurfa province on October 8, 2019. Photo: AFP / Bulent Kilic
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey will “shortly” usher in its operation in the Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria, Turkey’s Communications Director said Tuesday, issuing an ultimatum to Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters to either defect and join Turkey’s counter-ISIS operations or be stopped from “disrupting” them.
“The Turkish military, together with the Free Syrian Army, will cross the Turkish-Syrian border shortly,” Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s Communications Director, said in a Washington Post op-ed.
In a Sunday phone call, US President Donald Trump told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the US would withdraw from northern Syria - effectively a green light to the long-planned Turkish operation in Kurdish-controlled parts of northeastern Syria.
Turkey says it aims to clear the area of the YPG, which Ankara deems to be part of a terrorist organization, and to resettle up to three million Syrians currently in refuge in Turkey in the area.
Around 50 US troops stationed in the Syria-Turkey border towns of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ayn) and Tel Abyad have so far been withdrawn from their positions.
Invoking an anti-war saying by founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Altun claimed Turkey’s future is in danger if it does not go ahead with its operation.
“Turkey has no ambition in northeastern Syria except to neutralize a long-standing threat against Turkish citizens and to liberate the local population from the yoke of armed thugs,” the Turkish official said.
Altun framed the impending operation, as one that will center on counter-ISIS efforts and relieve the US of its role in the battle against the group.
“America has borne the brunt of the counter-Islamic State campaign for too long.”
“Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army, is willing and able to take the lead now and drive it home, bringing millions of refugees back to Syria in the process. At this critical juncture, the international community must rally behind Turkey’s rebuilding and stabilization efforts,” added Altun.
He issued an ultimatum to members of the YPG, who make up the bulk of forces in Kurdish-majority areas of northern Syria, saying they could either fight ISIS in collaboration with Turkish forces or face Turkish military wrath.
“It remains to be seen whether YPG militants will agree to the change in the campaign’s leadership,” he said.
“Indeed, they have two options: If they are genuinely interested in fighting Islamic State, they can defect without delay. Or they can listen to their commanders, who say that they will fight the Turkish forces — in which case we will have no choice but to stop them from disrupting our counter-Islamic State efforts.”
In a further gear-up to military action, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its preparations were complete.
“Turkish Security Forces will never tolerate the creation of a terror corridor at our borders. All preparations for the operation have been completed,” a Tuesday Turkish Defense Ministry statement read.
Once US-backed Kurdish-led forces have lost an estimated 11,000 fighters in efforts to defeat ISIS. They warn that such a Turkish operation will derail the fight against ISIS and undermine their efforts to detain suspects and hold their kin at already struggling facilities in northeast Syria.
Senior Kurdish officials have said the US withdrawal will leave them looking at all options for assistance in the face of the impending Turkish offensive, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“If America vacates the area, and especially the border area … we will be forced to study all available options,” Badran Jia Kurd, an adviser to the Autonomous Administration of North and South Syria (NES) told Reuters on Tuesday.
Commander in Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Kobani told NBC on Monday that cooperation with Assad is “one of the options that we have on the table.”
Kobani’s statement came as the SDF claimed Tuesday that ISIS had conducted three suicide bombings on their positions.
Altun’s claims the Turkish operation will have a counter-ISIS focus ill match President Trump’s insistence that ISIS has been defeated in Syria.
Their supposed defeat was used as part of Trump’s justification for withdrawal – despite widespread recognition of the group’s resurgence in both Syria and neighboring Iraq, including by the Pentagon.
Trump continues to face bipartisan condemnation in the US for his decision to withdraw.
“To the Turkish Government: You do NOT have a green light to enter into northern Syria. There is massive bipartisan opposition in Congress, which you should see as a red line you should not cross,” Senator Lindsey Graham said in a tweet on Tuesday.
However, Turkish officials have remained defiant and say threats will not deter them from the operation.
Erdogan, currently on a visit to Serbia, is due to meet key international players in Syria in the next few weeks. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is set to visit Turkey on Friday. The Turkish president is set to visit Washington on Nov 13, 2019, according to Turkish state media.
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