Türkiye Prepares Large-Scale Incursion Against Syrian Kurds: WSJ
A portrait of Bashar al-Assad on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria. X/ @cabe_eddie
December 17, 2024 Hour: 8:26 am
If Türkiye proceeds with its invasion, the consequences will be catastrophic, said aIlham Ahmed.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Türkiye and its allied militias are amassing forces at the border with Syria, raising the possibility that Ankara may be preparing for a large-scale incursion into Kurdish-controlled territory, which is backed by the United States.
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The newspaper, citing unidentified senior U.S. officials, stated that the forces include Turkish uniformed commandos and militia fighters, as well as a significant amount of artillery, concentrated near Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish Syrian city along the northern border with Türkiye.
The troop buildup, which began after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December, resembles Turkish military maneuvers prior to their 2019 invasion of northeastern Syria. “We are focused on this and pressing for restraint,” said another U.S. official in reference to Türkiye’s actions.
On Monday, Ilham Ahmed, an official from the Syrian Kurdish civilian administration, told U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that a Turkish military operation seemed likely and urged him to pressure Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to refrain from sending troops across the border.
Türkiye’s goal, Ahmed wrote, is to “establish de facto control over our land before you take office, forcing you to deal with them as rulers of our territory. If Türkiye proceeds with its invasion, the consequences will be catastrophic,” Ahmed warned in a letter obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
The Turkish threat has left the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which work alongside U.S. troops in northeastern Syria to eliminate the remnants of the Islamic State, in a vulnerable position just weeks before the Biden administration leaves office, the WSJ noted.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Turkey to discuss Syria’s future with Erdogan and seek assurances that Ankara would scale back operations against Kurdish fighters. However, U.S.-brokered ceasefire talks between Syrian Kurds and Turkish-backed rebels in Kobani failed on Monday.
The SDF is now witnessing “significant military buildups to the east and west of the city. Our civilians live in constant fear of imminent death and destruction,” Ahmed added in his letter.
The overthrow of Syrian leader Assad by rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda, has plunged the country’s future into uncertainty and triggered renewed clashes between Syrian Kurds and Turkish-backed rebel groups. The fall of Assad has intensified Turkish operations against the SDF, which Ankara considers an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
A Turkish invasion would displace many Christian communities and over 200,000 Kurdish civilians in Kobani alone, Ahmed warned, urging the U.S. president-elect to use his “unique approach to diplomacy” to persuade Erdogan to halt any operations.
“We believe you have the power to prevent this catastrophe. President Erdogan has listened to you before, and we trust he will heed your call again,” he said.
During his first term, Trump partially withdrew U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, paving the way for a large-scale Turkish invasion that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of Syrians. The Trump administration eventually helped negotiate a ceasefire in exchange for Kurdish forces surrendering kilometers of border territory to Türkiye, the WSJ recalled.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – WSJ