FILE PHOTO: Turkish soldiers seen at the border town of Akcakale © Reuters / Murad Sezer
Turkey has completed all military and logistic preparations needed to launch a ground operation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, Al Jazeera reported on November 29, citing a Turkish official with knowledge on the matter.
On November 20, Turkey launched an operation against Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, codenamed Claw-Sword, in response to the November 13 Istanbul bombing. Ankara believes that the core faction of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), was involved the bombing, which claimed the lives of six people and wounded more than 80 others.
So far, the operation has been limited to air and artillery strikes. Nevertheless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already warned that a new ground offensive against the SDF could soon begin.
The unnamed Turkish official told Al Jazeera that the first phase of the ground operation will target three key strongholds of the YPG: Tell Rifaat, Manbij and Kobane in the northern and northeastern countryside of Aleppo.
The official said that Turkey had informed Russia of its rejection of the presence of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in SDF territory in northern Syria. According to him, Ankara asked Moscow to dissolve the SDF, or force it to leave the region.
As for the position of the United States, the main backer of the SDF, the official said that Washington had “shown its understanding” of Ankara’s demands. The official went on to claim that U.S. troops withdrew from some positions in northern Syria.
“The military operations will be carried out accurately and without any threat to the safety of the American and Russian troops [in northern Syria],” Al Jazeera quoted the official as saying.
The U.S. appears to be taking Turkey’s threats seriously. On November 29, Al Monitor and other news sources reported that all American civilian staff, including diplomats, have been evacuated from northern Syria to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
SDF leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin has already threatened to set the Syrian-Turkish border aflame if Turkey launch a ground operation in northern Syria. The Kurdish leader called for more Russian and U.S. pressure on Turkey, as well as for better coordination with the SAA. This may not be enough to stop Ankara this time, however.
