14/12/18

Η επίσκεψη του ειδικού απεσταλμένου των ΗΠΑ στην Άγκυρα προκάλεσε τουρκικές απειλές για εισβολή στη Συρία

U.S. envoy's visit sparked Turkish threats to invade Syria
James Jeffrey, U.S. ambassador 
Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday threatened to launch an operation to the east of the Euphrates in Syria. The threats were most likely the result of Turkish disappointment over a visit to Ankara last week by U.S. ambassador James Jeffrey, Washington’s Syria envoy. During my travels to the Turkish-Syrian border recently, including to the border town of Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain), there were no signs of any impending attacks and no border walls were removed.
The threat is an attempt by Turkey to put further pressure on the United States to accept its demands in Manbij and even Tel Abyad. Turkey wants to establish a 10-kilometre buffer zone around Tel Abyad, in order to cut the links between the Hasakah province and Kobane and break the continuous border strip that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) now control from Derik (Al Malikiyah) to Manbij.
Moreover, Turkey wants to install its proxies in Manbij.

The threats by the Turkish government are also linked to the local elections scheduled for March 31 and internal political problems. Erdoğan hopes to stir up nationalist sentiment amid the country’s economic downturn.

However, the United States doesn’t want to halt its support for the Kurdish-dominated SDF because the SDF is on the verge of liberating the last Islamic State (ISIS)-held pocket in the northeast of Syria. Nor does Washington want to completely handover Tel Abyad or Manbij to Turkey, but rather wants to make administrative changes in the northeast of Syria in the Arab-majority areas.

The United States will not accept attempts by Ankara to force them to choose between Turkey and the SDF. The air strikes by Turkey in Sinjar and Makhmour against alleged ‘Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets’ in Iraq on Thursday might indicate that Turkey does not have a lot of room for manoeuvre in Syria due to the U.S. presence.

According to an article written by Nicholas A. Heras, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), the Turkish threat “is a slap in the face to American efforts to find a win-win solution to the tensions between its NATO ally Turkey, and the SDF.”

Amjad Othman, the spokesperson of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the SDF, suggested to me that Turkish demands on northeast Syria were not accepted by the United States following Ambassador Jeffrey’s visit.

“We see these Turkish threats as serious and Turkey wants to make chaos and destabilise the area,” Othman said. “We know it’s not easy for Turkey to enter the north of Syria, but Turkey is trying by any means to stop the democratic project in the north and east of Syria and wants to stop the political advances in the area.

“Turkey is not satisfied with the U.S. presence and Turkey is trying to pressure the U.S. to leave Syria and to stop a political solution after the defeat of ISIS,” he said.

Ambassador Jeffrey went to Syria after holding talks in Ankara earlier this week and met with SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Kobani, according to Reuters. Kobani said that the United States needs to ramp up efforts to stop a possible Turkish attack, which he said would endanger the fight against ISIS.

“The U.S. and the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS need to be serious in stopping this Turkish threat. Otherwise it will be very easy for ISIS to reorganise its forces in this area,” Othman said, echoing the views of General Mazloum.

Civilians in the northeast of Syria are concerned about the strength of U.S. commitments after Turkey, with a green light from Russia, invaded the Kurdish-held region of Afrin earlier this year despite strong U.S. objections.

When I visited Syrian-Kurdish cities this past week, civilians told me that they feared the worst should Turkey be allowed to invade. These fears are being enhanced by the behaviour of Turkish-backed groups who helped invade Afrin and then reportedly went on a plundering spree in the city.

According to Othman, the groups in Afrin committed large-scale human rights abuses. These assertions have been corroborated by human rights organisations such as the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, which published a report on the issue in July, and by experts who gave evidence during a debate at the Dutch parliament in September.

“They brought Syrians from their towns and homes and brought them to Afrin and expelled people from Afrin. If this is repeated to the east of the Euphrates, it would be a huge step back for all of Syria and not only for Kurds, but also for Arabs, Christians and Turkmen,” Othman said.

“It’s not only the Kurds that oppose this invasion. All the people in the northeast of Syria and east of Syria are afraid of this Turkish threat.”

Therefore, the SDF and Othman’s SDC are looking to the United States to impart more pressure on Turkey. There were already unconfirmed reports that the U.S. military is setting up additional border posts near Tel Abyad.

Kurdish groups don’t just want to prevent a possible Turkish invasion of northeast Syria, but want to be included in negotiations on the future of the country.

“We need to be included in future negotiations in order to achieve a political solution in Syria,” Othman said.

 https://ahvalnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/ahvalnews.com/us-turkey/us-envoys-visit-sparked-turkish-threats-invade-syria?amp

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