Turkey Tightening its Grip on Northern Syria

Photo Credit: The Presidential Press and Information Office via Bob Nearbone

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be strengthening his grip on northern Syria.

US officials have expressed concern over the possibility that Turkey might invade Kurdish-held territory in Syria, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The report comes as Turkey and its allies within the country build up forces along the Syria-Turkey border in a manner similar to the preparations made by Turkish forces prior to its 2019 invasion of northeastern Syria.

On July 28, Erdogan threatened to invade the State of Israel during a conference of his Justice and Development (AK) party on July 28 following an Iranian-backed Hezbollah attack on northern Israel that killed 12 children in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.

“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine,” he said. “Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. Only we must be strong.”

It is possible that Erdogan may be mulling the possibility of using Syria as a springboard for an invasion of the Jewish State. But it is certain that Erdogan intends to invade northern Syria.

“If Turkey proceeds with its invasion, the consequences will be catastrophic,” Syrian Kurdish civil administration official Ilham Ahmed warned in a letter to incoming US President Donald Trump.

“From across the border we can already see Turkish forces amassing, and our civilians live under the constant fear of imminent death and destruction,” Ahmed wrote.

Turkey has stepped up its attacks against the US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria, claiming the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is attempting to “expand its occupation in northern Syria.”

The SDF is led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and is considered by Turkey to be an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group that is designated by the US and multiple other governments as a terrorist organization.

The United States directly supports the SDF, as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organization which still operates in the country.

The SDF is the military force of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria which controls the region east of the Euphrates River.

Turkey claims the US-backed Kurdish force was “largely thwarted” by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) “which fought off its invasion in Tal Rifaat (Kobani) and Manbij regions.”

The SNA holds territory in the country’s northwest and has consistently fought against the SDF.

On December 9, sources quoted by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Turkish-backed factions carried out identity-bases executions and assaulted properties of nearly 30,000 Kurdish families in Manbij. SNA blocked ten buses and six ambulances from entering Manbij to evacuate those wishing to leave the city following its seizure by Turkish-backed forces. Dozens of injured combatants from the “Manbij Military Council Forces” who were receiving treatment in a military hospital near the city were extrajudicially executed by SNA forces.

US-brokered attempts to negotiate a permanent ceasefire between the SNA and SDF in the northern Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobani have failed, Reuters reported earlier this week.

“Turkish airstrikes regularly target the PKK/YPG hideouts in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a ‘terror corridor’ along the borders and Ankara often warns the group is a threat to Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” according to the Daily Sabah, Turkey’s government mouthpiece.

“Ankara has been a major player in Syria’s conflict, having secured the northwest and maintaining a working relationship with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the offensive that brought down Assad.”