Russia, Turkey seal power in northeast Syria
Russia and Turkey reached an agreement yesterday that would cement their power in Syria, deploying their forces across nearly its entire northeastern border to fill the void left by President Donald Trump’s abrupt withdrawal of US forces.
The accord caps a dramatic and swift transformation of the Syrian map unleashed by Trump’s decision two weeks ago to remove the American soldiers.
US troops in Syria fought five years alongside Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria and succeeded in bringing down the rule of the Islamic State group there at the cost of thousands of Kurdish fighters’ lives. Now much of that territory would be handed over to US rivals.
The biggest winners are Turkey and Russia. Turkey would get sole control over areas of the Syrian border captured in its invasion, while Turkish, Russian and Syria government forces would oversee the rest of the border region. America’s former US allies, the Kurdish fighters, are left hoping Moscow and Damascus will preserve some pieces of their autonomy dreams.
Meanwhile, the Americans are stumbling out of Syria in a withdrawal that has proved chaotic. In the latest hitch, Iraq’s military said the US troops coming out of Syria do not have permission to stay in Iraq, contradicting US Defence Secretary Mark Esper’s statement a day earlier that they would remain there to fight the Islamic State group.
Trump ordered the US troop pull-out on October 7 with little consultation with advisers and in the face of heavy criticism, even by Republican allies. It opened the way for Turkey to launch a long-threatened invasion of northeast Syria two days later to drive out the USallied Kurdish fighters. Vowing to get American soldiers out of the region and its ‘‘endless wars,’’ Trump has said he sees no problem with Russia and Turkey taking over as power brokers.
The new accord was reached by Presidents Vladimir Putin, of Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of Turkey, after six hours of negotiations as they pored over maps of Syria in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
‘‘I believe that this agreement will start a new era toward Syria’s lasting stability and it being cleared of terrorism. I hope that this agreement is beneficial to our countries and to our brothers in Syria,’’ Erdogan said.
Kurdish fighters have 150 hours starting at noon today to withdraw from almost the entire northeastern border from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border. Russian and Syrian government forces would move in immediately to ensure the Kurdish fighters pull back 30 kilometres from the border. When the deadline expires on October 29, joint Russian-Turkish patrols would begin along a 10km wide strip of the border. –