US BACKTRACKS ON SYRIA FORCE AFTER FIERCE TURKISH RESPONSE
▶ Washington had been accused of backing Kurds with plan for 30,000-strong border guard
The US military yesterday withdrew a statement about the US-led anti-ISIL coalition’s plan to set up a 30,000-strong border force in northern Syria after secretary of state Rex Tillerson said there was no such plan.
The US army said that Operation Inherent Resolve – the military intervention against ISIL in Syria and Iraq – continues to train local security forces in Syria but is not forming a new army.
“This training enhances security for the displaced persons returning to their devastated communities and prevents the re-emergence of Daesh in liberated and ungoverned areas,” it said. “This is not a new ‘army’ or conventional ‘border guard’ force.” The coalition’s initial announcement of a border force last week added to Turkish anger over Washington’s support for Kurdish-dominated forces in Syria.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a military offensive against the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin, which is controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia that was instrumental in driving ISIL out of parts of northeastern Syria.
Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the backbone of the SDF – a terrorist organisation for its links to the PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has fought the Turkish government since the 1980s. Mr Erdogan has threatened military action against Syria’s Kurds before, but in the past week Turkey has escalated the situation by reinforcing troops on its border near Afrin and shelling the area.
Mr Erdogan has suggested an assault is imminent. “We are keenly aware of the legitimate security concerns of Turkey,” the US military said.
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday that his country was not convinced by America’s assurance.
“Did this satisfy us in full? No, it did not,” he told CNN-Turk television. “The establishment of a so-called terror army would cause irreversible damage in our relations … it is a very serious situation.” Earlier this week, Col Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the coalition, said the SDF was being transformed into a force to secure Syria’s borders in the areas under its control.
It was Col Dillon’s statements that Mr Tillerson appeared to challenge on Wednesday.
“That entire situation has been mis-portrayed, mis-described, some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all,” Mr Tillerson said.
Meanwhile, residents of Afrin were said to still be preparing for the possibility of a Turkish assault.
“There is no way to come in and out of Afrin except for a small passage towards Aleppo,” said Shamseddine Hamo, a politician from Afrin who is now based in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep. “The Turks have even eliminated parts of the border wall in preparation for crossing in. All these things make us think that storming the area is very close.”
Mr Hamo, who is highly critical of the YPG, said that while the group is popular among Syrian Kurds, it does not enjoy widespread support. The YPG has little tolerance for dissent and has largely driven opposition figures such as Mr Hamo from the areas under its control.
Mr Hamo warned that a Turkish invasion was likely to strengthen support for the YPG.
“The people of Afrin will not accept the Turkish army. They look at the Turkish army as an enemy and they will not receive it in Afrin the same way it was received in Idlib,” he said, referring to the northern Syrian province to the west of Afrin where Turkey sent soldiers late last year. Turkey has long supported Syrian Arab rebel groups in Idlib and other parts of northern Syria in their fight to overthrow the government of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad. On Wednesday, members of some of those groups said they were preparing to assist the Turks in an assault.
“The preparations are going on for an attack,” said Muataz Raslan, an officer in Jaish Al Nukhba, a rebel group that is part of the Euphrates Shield, an umbrella of Turkish-supported Syrian rebel factions aligned with the Free Syrian Army.
“The FSA will spearhead this attack, and Jaish Al Nukhba will be involved.”
Tensions around Afrin also underscore how strained US-Turkey relations have become.
“What Turkey wants from Afrin and from the north of Syria in general is that this area be void of the mercenary terrorists who work for America,” said Bakir Atajan, a political analyst based in Istanbul.
“The US was an ally of Turkey. Now Turkish people think the US has become an enemy.”