This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
Kurds in Syria Face Imminent War with Turkey ¶
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Turkey's planned incursion into northeastern Syria has sparked fears of a humanitarian catastrophe, with the Syrian Democratic Forces warning of thousands of innocent civilians being caught in the crossfire.
On Wednesday, Turkey massed troops near the Syrian border, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatening to send forces into the region to uproot the Kurdish-led militia, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
According to Fahrettin Altun, Turkey's communications director, Turkish forces, along with their Syrian rebel allies, will cross the Turkish-Syrian border 'shortly.' Altun wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post that Turkey's goal is to neutralize a longstanding threat against Turkish citizens and liberate the local population from the yoke of armed thugs.
However, the Syrian Democratic Forces have warned that the area is on the edge of a possible humanitarian catastrophe due to the looming Turkish incursion. The group said in a statement that the attack will spill the blood of thousands of innocent civilians because the border areas are overcrowded.
A military coalition led by the United States partnered with a Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria beginning in 2015 to fight Islamic State extremists. The militia grew into the Syrian Democratic Forces and eventually took control of the areas liberated from the Islamic State, pushing it from its last foothold in Syria earlier this year.
But the partnership angered Turkey, which considers the militia a part of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. In recent days, Turkey has been preparing an incursion, with forces bused to the border and howitzers positioned behind dirt embankments, pointed at Syrian territory.
After a phone call with Erdogan on Sunday, the White House announced that Turkey would be sending forces into Syria and said the United States would not help or hinder their advance. On Monday, United States soldiers withdrew from observation posts near the Syrian border towns of Tel Abyad and Ras al Ain, in the area where Turkey is expected to enter.
On Tuesday, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazlum Kobani, told The New York Times that his forces would resist any attempt by Turkey to establish a foothold in Syria. Kobani and a range of current and former United States officials have warned that a new fight with Turkey could pull his forces out of areas where the Islamic State remains a threat, opening a void that could benefit President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and his Russian and Iranian backers, or the jihadists.
President Trump has repeatedly sought to withdraw the roughly 1,000 American troops posted in northeastern Syria as part of his longstanding promise to extricate the United States from what he deems 'endless wars.' However, he has faced fierce pushback from others in Washington, including from Republican lawmakers.
On Tuesday, Trump sought to clarify his position, writing on Twitter that the United States had 'in no way abandoned the Kurds,' but that it also had good trade relations with Turkey. He threatened that 'any unforced for unnecessary fighting by Turkey' would be 'devastating' to its economy and currency, but without explaining what sort of action would cross the line.
