Turkey to Launch Military Offensive Against US-Backed Syrian Kurds
Syrian Kurds played key role in pushing back ISIS
Turkey is preparing a military offensive against the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, Turkish state-run media sources say. “We will start our operation in a few days to liberate areas east of the Euphrates River from terrorist organizations,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared in a speech in Ankara Wednesday, referring to the presence of Kurdish forces in neighboring Syria.
Kurds, fighting alongside the Assyrian Christians, had played a key role in liberating large parts of Syrian and Iraqi territories from the Islamic State.
Turkey’s sudden military incursion to the east of Euphrates poses a risk to some 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in that region. “Unilateral military action into north-east Syria by any party, particularly as U.S. personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave concern. We would find any such actions unacceptable,” the U.S. Defense Department spokesman Commander Sean Robertson said.
The BBC reported the impending Turkish intrusion in the northeastern Syria:
Turkey is set to launch a military intervention in northeastern Syria to combat U.S.-backed Kurdish rebels it regards as terrorists, drawing a stern warning from the Pentagon and signaling new tension between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.
Turkey will launch a new operation against US-backed Kurdish militias in northern Syria “in the next few days”, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.
The move, which he said would focus on territory to the east of the Euphrates river, risks confrontation with the US.
America’s support for the Kurdish YPG forces has strained relations with Turkey, which considers the YPG to be part of a terrorist group. (…) The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) currently controls large swathes of the north-east of Syria on Turkey’s southern border.
The military aid to Kurdish and Christian Assyrian forces has been part of President Donald Trump’s strategy of destroying the Islamic State’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The U.S.-backed campaign saw the ISIS flushed out of more than 90 percent of its territory gained under the Obama presidency. Defeated on the ground, the Islamist terror group has lost control of most of its oil fields, a major source of its revenue.
Turkey’s Islamist regime, on the other hand, has a checkered past when it comes to dealing with ISIS and other Islamic terror groups. The Erdogan regime makes it no secret of its ideological affinity to jihadi groups operating from Gaza to Kashmir. According to the intelligence assessment made by the German spy agency BND in 2016, Erdogan’s Turkey is emerging as the “central platform of activity for Islamist groups in the Middle East.” Under Erdogan’s watch, the country became a conduit for Islamists seeking to join the caliphate in Syria and Iraq. As early as 2013, some 30,000 foreign fighters crossed over from into Syria via Turkey, building the core of the ISIS fighting force.
Erdogan’s regime feels bolstered by billions of dollars pouring in from the European Union. In 2016, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cut a $3 billion deal with the Turkey in return for vague promises of halting the wave of illegal immigrants crossing into Europe. Far from being content, Erdogan has been pressuring Brussels to accept Ankara into the EU and open Europe’s borders to some 80 million Turkish citizens by giving them visa-free entry.
Turkey, a NATO member, has long ceased acting like an ally to the West. The regime is more interested in undoing the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, and reviving the Ottoman caliphate in its place. By attacking the Kurds in Syria, Ankara is trying to destroy the only native-born fighting force capable of taking on the armed Islamists in the region. Any vacuum left by a Kurdish retreat is bound to be filled by Islamic terror groups.
[Cover image via YouTube]
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Fried Turkey for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back in 2012-2014 Erdogan was allowing ISIS cross border access as proxy to combat the Marxist Syrian Kurds. What’s changed? Trump unchaining our military forces. They pretty much ground ISIS into impotent nubs.
That’s why Erdogan’s veil of secrecy has dropped and he’s now forced to operate in the light of day.
It would be a terrible shame if the transponder codes of Turkish aircraft near the Euphrates were to be left out of US AAA battalion missiles, and a few dozen of them were to spontaneously explode at once.
Just saying. Probably should start on those letters now.
“DRAFT: Through no fault of their own, US anti-aircraft units in the Syrian region accidentally fired on a combined wave of Turkish helicopter and jet aircraft units approaching US units in the vicinity. Due to communication failures, the Turkish military failed to inform the US units of their presence, leading to the unfortunate incident in which US counter-radar missiles were also released on unidentified radar emissions in the area while US drones destroyed dozens of unidentified armored vehicles, etc…”
It would really be unfortunate. Thankfully, Turkey is led by a sane, rational, peaceful, considerate, loving individual who would never think of threatening the US forces in this fashion.
Turkey joins the US Senate in attacks against US allies. Down with the Kurds, long live the Houhties.
FWIW – There is a centuries long history of hate between the turks and the Kurds , somewhat similar with the Kurds and Iraqis, etc.
The turks definitely consider the kurds to be a lower class of people which explains why the turks are not overly cooperative with the fight against Isis
The Turks also don’t want to lose half the country to any sort of Greater Kurdistan.
I imagine those Kurdish and Christian Assyrian women feel a high degree of motivation to kill the ISIS scum. More power to them.
Pity if the Turks ended up with heavy casualties eh.
Turkey is not our friend. Reclaim Byzantium and open a BBQ pork place in the Hagia Sophia.
Can someone remind me, please: why is Turkey still a member of NATO?
Because it prevents Russia from dominating the Mediterranean.
We need to get all U.S. citizens out of Turkey now and shutter any military facilities. The Kurds will hand the Turks’ asses to them even without U.S. help, but we will be drawn into it sooner or later. Then the Turks will certainly be looking to take hostages.
The US had an opportunity to actually establish a small state of Kurdistan in the Mosul area of Iraq in 2004. While the Kurds would have still attempted to expand their independence into Turkish, Syrian and Iranian territory, they could have been reined in by the US. Instead, the US embarked upon a campaign to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq and abandoned the Kurds. Now, that window has closed. Turkey has a reasonable fear of an uprising of Kurds within their territory. Syria has already been the victim of direct US support for rebels in that country. Syria, Turkey and Iran have already turned to Russia for support against the US. Any Kurdish attempts to gain independence in this area are going to be met with military action by the nations effected and that military action will be backed up by Russia. Kurdish actions in this region could be another Sarajevo type flashpoint.
Remember these important points. First, the US support of the “Arab Spring” encouraged the revival of Islamic radical and terrorist groups. The direct actions of the US Government in supporting Islamic terrorist organizations in a revolt against the government of Syria allowed for the creation and expansion of ISIL. The removal of US troops from Iraq created a power vacuum which allowed ISIL to expand into that country. The US created the current state of affairs in this region. And, it has brought the US to the brink of war with Russia. It is unclear whether the Kurdish situation will push us over the edge and into an armed conflict with Russia. This is a no-win situation for the US.
The plan was to split Iraq into 3 sectors..Sunni, Shia and Kurd …correct? Turkey would have still gone nuts but any present option has had potential. Turkey is too far gone for successful regime change.
Nearly all the Kurds are Sunnis.
From what I can see, the Kurds are the only real allies the US has in the area, and they’ve been treated rather shabbily. Erdogan is no one’s ally, Turkey is not reliable as a member of NATO, and has been taking far too many liberties with its military. It would seem appropriate to give the Turks a bloody nose and drive them back across their border, rather than let Erdogan continue to push, and see how much he can get by with taking.
I trust Putin more than Erdogan. We really need to move our assets out of Turkey and put them in Eastern Europe. Sooner or later, it has to be done or we will lose our expensive equipment and Americans will be taken hostage.