On Thursday, Turkish officials said Syrian Kurdish forces had started withdrawing east of the Euphrates River.
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“Kerry [US State Secretary John Kerry] emphasized that the PYD/YPG forces have been withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates”, a Turkish security source was quoted by Hürriyet Daily News as saying following a telephone conversation between the US top diplomat and Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday morning.
He had been asked to respond to an article in German weekly Der Spiegel – which frequently riles the Turkish authorities – with the headline “Turkey’s Syria operation – IS is the pretext, the Kurds the target”. “They can not, will not, under any circumstance get American support if they do not keep that commitment”. “They will never succeed”, Yildirim told a news conference in Istanbul.
Kurdish-led forces in Syria say they have come under artillery shelling from the Turkish military for the second straight day in northern Aleppo, as Ankara continued its campaign to push the group back from its border areas.
Turkey’s military continued to shell US-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria as it drove more tanks into the country Friday, highlighting the complicated nature of Turkey’s “Euphrates Shield” incursion it says will secure its borders from IS and rival Kurdish forces.
Meanwhile, Damascus slammed the offensive as “a blatant violation of sovereignty”.
The SDF subsequently confirmed its ambition to take control of Jarabulus when it announced it had formed a military council to run the town.
The SDF has been the most effective opponent of IS on the ground in Syria and its fighters control an uninterrupted 400km stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border, from Iraq to the Euphrates, as well as an enclave around Afrin.
It made no sense for the United States to be supporting the Kurds against Turkey.
“[The] Turkish state can not shape our position there in accordance with its own interests”. Our forces are there.
A statement issued on Friday by office of the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, says the United Nations was not consulted or involved in the negotiation of the deal reached between rebel factions and government forces in Daraya.
Backed by the US-led coalition, the Kurdish-Arab SDF alliance is deemed the main force fighting the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Syria.
The former IS stronghold of Manbij was freed by Kurdish-led SDF from jihadists just two weeks ago after months of intense fighting. Yildirim said there was no doubt the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, was responsible. It was also a reflection of its growing concern of increasing Kurdish clout in Syria and at home.
According to Turkey’s NTV television channel, the Turkish authorities notified Russian Federation about the beginning of their own operation in Syria.
“For Turkey, this is a very serious threat, so they have launched an operation in the border region – in order to prevent the reunification of the Kurdish cantons”, said Isayev.
“They need Turkey more than the Kurds, because if Turkey goes rogue, on the other side, they are scared they’ll lose all the support as far as the counter-ISIL operation goes”, Alam added referring to the Incirlik Air Base, from which American aircrafts have been carrying out airstrikes against IS in Syria.
“It seems that they might have to ditch the Syrian Kurds in favor of Turkey and they want to continue the cooperation with Turkey”, the analyst said, noting that the “Kurds are redline for Turkey”.
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“Turkey has a vested interest in making sure that the SDF remains aware that nothing is sustainable in northern Syria without the Turks’ longterm buy-in”, he said.
