Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kurdish militias in Syria on Wednesday to both lay down their arms or be “buried.” On the identical day, the Turkish army mentioned it killed 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq – together with members of the Individuals’s Protection Items (YPG), the main Syrian Kurdish power allied with the US in opposition to the Islamic State.
Erdogan and different Turkish officers have adamantly insisted for years that the YPG is allied with, or merely a department of, the violent separatist Kurdistan Staff Occasion (PKK). The PKK is banned in Turkey and categorized as a terrorist group by many different nations, together with the US.
Most different international locations, nonetheless, regard the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia as a separate entity from the PKK. The YPG holds a management position within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which was instrumental within the combat in opposition to ISIS and stays a U.S. ally.
Erdogan repeated Turkey’s view that the YPG and PKK are one and the identical in remarks to members of his ruling AKP social gathering on Wednesday.
“The separatist murderers will both bid farewell to their weapons, or they are going to be buried in Syrian lands together with their weapons,” he mentioned.
“We are going to eradicate the terrorist group that’s attempting to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings,” he added, in search of to attract a distinction between the YPG militia and civilian Kurds, whom Turkey claims to haven’t any drawback with.
Final week, the SDF admitted for the primary time that PKK fighters are in Syria and have been allies in opposition to the Islamic State, though the SDF insisted it had no operational hyperlinks with the PKK.
SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi advised Reuters final week that Kurdish fighters got here to Syria from throughout the Center East to defend Kurdish lands in opposition to the Islamic State, together with members of the PKK. He mentioned that whereas most of the PKK fighters returned house after the autumn of ISIS, some “determined to remain and assist us.”
Abdi mentioned he was agreeable to Turkey’s demand that non-Syrian Kurdish fighters should depart Syria however mentioned that will not be potential till there was “a complete ceasefire between us and the Turkish forces and their affiliated factions.”
“Then again, we’re making ready ourselves to repel any assault if it occurs,” Abdi mentioned.
The foremost offensive Abdi described has not occurred but, however on Wednesday, the Turkish Protection Ministry mentioned 21 Kurdish militants have been killed in northern Syria by Turkish forces, together with each PKK and YPG members. One Kurdish fighter was additionally killed in Iraq.
“Our operations will proceed successfully and resolutely,” the Turkish Protection Ministry mentioned.
A few of Turkey’s colleagues within the North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO) are rising queasy with Erdogan’s struggle in opposition to the Kurds. On Monday, German Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock warned {that a} resurgent ISIS may gain advantage from Turkey weakening Syrian Kurdish forces.
“It will assist nobody if the Islamic State terrorists have been those to learn from a battle with the Kurds. This may pose a safety menace to Syria, Turkey and Europe,” Baerbock mentioned.
Writing at the Hill on Thursday, Georgetown College adjunct professor David L. Phillips asserted it was time for the US to face up for its Kurdish allies in Syria.
Phillips wrote:
Defeating ISIS remains to be a piece in progress; the Kurds are guarding 1000’s of ISIS prisoners in northeast Syria. In the event that they redeploy to counter a Turkish invasion, the SDF may have a stark alternative: both defend their households from a Turkish-backed invasion or stand guard over the ISIS detainees. Defending their houses and households may have precedence.
Turkey truly has a solution to that argument, as Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan insisted final weekend that the rebel authorities in Syria is completely able to operating the ISIS jail camps.
Phillips mentioned the Kurds have offered an “island of stability amid the chaos” by offering a element administration in northeastern Syria in the course of the civil struggle and warned the U.S. would “incur a reputational price” if it abandons an efficient ally who has largely adopted the American mannequin for anti-extremist authorities.
“Who will be part of U.S.-led counterinsurgency efforts if we abandon the Kurds now?” he puzzled.
“Ethical readability is known as for at this perilous second. Kurds are America’s allies and associates with whom we share strategic pursuits and values. Kurds are a power for good in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. To safe U.S. pursuits and status, Washington should deter Turkey’s aggression,” he urged.
The moribund Biden administration has mentioned little on the matter of the Syrian Kurds, however there’s a bipartisan invoice within the Senate to impose sanctions in opposition to Turkey if it launches a serious operation in opposition to the SDF.