Among the ‘many wars’ being fought in Syria, Turkey’s seems to be the one where an ally, the US, is directly and indirectly hurting its own ally, Turkey.
Notwithstanding the ‘NATO-bond’ that they share, some of the recent incidents have shown how the US continues to support Kurdish militias despite serious Turkish reservations, and how the US continues to desist providing air support to Turkey against ISIS in the city of Al-Bab.
While previously the troops employed in the Euphrates Shield operation had successfully taken western suburbs of Al-Bab and were planning to occupy the heights overlooking the city, the “Shield” however cracked two weeks ago when ISIS units opposed Turkish troops in a frontal assault, inflicting heavy losses.
As it stands, Turkey has received some serious set-backs in the city where the ISIS-linked Amaq news agency claimed that the Turkish Army and pro-Turkey militant groups had lost over 70 fighters, forcing the Turkish backed “moderates” to flee from the battlefield towards Azraq from western al-Bab.
The Turkish army’s personnel are reportedly now trying to gather the “opposition fighters” to re-prepare them for a new offensive.
According to the Turkish General Staff, they lost 14 servicemen, 10 German manufactured Leopard tanks, an M-60 main battle tank, personnel carriers and a Cobra armored vehicle in the attacks.
What is even more interesting to note is that in the videos and pictures posted online by the ISIS, its fighters can be seen using the US-made TOW missiles that in recent years have “suddenly” started appearing in the hands of ISIS radicals.
These videos and pictures do apparently substantiate Erdogan’s last week claims that they have enough “evidence” against the support the US continue to provide to ISIS.
But nobody should be really surprised at this point as Turkish media were reporting in late December, subsequent to the US president’s decision to lift restrictions on the supply of advanced weapons to the Syrian “rebels,” that Washington was stepping up its weapons supply efforts to ISIS radicals via the Syrian Al-Hasakah Governorate.
Whereas the death of 16 soldiers in a day, marking an unprecedented loss, coupled with the new year night attack in Istanbul have awakened the Turks to the grim reality of how close the war has come, these incidents have also shown how Turkey and the US have fallen apart.
On January 3, Turkish PM Binali Yıldırım slammed the US President Barack Obama and called on the incoming president Donald Trump to “end this shame” in the US’ Syria policy.
A call from Obama to President Recep Erdoğan to express condolences about the New Year night nightclub attack by an ISIL militant, killing 39 and wounding 65, apparently did not change the government’s position.
After all, ruling Justice and Development Party’s deputy Şamil Tayyar wrote on Twitter on the same day that the CIA was behind the Reina attack.
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık also said on January 3 that the US’ Syria policy was prompting the government to “question” the use of the strategic İncirlik base by US-led anti-ISIL coalition planes—planes that the US has not used in co-operation with Turkey against Daesh and PKK.
Following an earlier public complaint by Çavuşoğlu last week, the Turkish General Staff announced that US-led coalition planes had joined Turkish operations against ISIL near al-Bab “for the first time in a long time.”
However, a Pentagon statement late on January 3 made it clear that US planes were not carrying weapons, and only flew to show a flag as the Turks wanted it much. Ankara read this as a declaration of continued support for the PKK, which it sees as an existential threat for Turkey.
Hence, the harsh reaction by various Turkish officials against the lame-duck president who is thought to be willing to provide only ‘lame-duck support’ in Al-Bab, which, if it eventually falls to “rebels” (the PYD/PKK), would enable them to easily reach Manbij and complete the “corridor” along the Turkish border.
However, while the US ambassador to Ankara, John Bass, told NTV that his country did not support the formation of a PYD/PKK-controlled “so-called corridor”, Turkish officials have found this much of “support” both “too little” and “too late” to mean anything in the current context.
It is “too little” because it is not enough to turn the tide of events in Al-Bab on similar lines as the Russian support did in Aleppo for the Syrian forces. It is “too late” because Turkey has already chartered a fresh course of action in Syria by allying itself with Russia and Iran and by triggering off a US-minus settlement process.
Whereas this course of action has made the US desist providing support to Turkey in Al-Bab, it appears that Turkey is itself trapped and is unable to invoke its ‘new allies’ into taking full part in battle for Al-Bab (read: The only air support that has happened yet was airstrikes by Russia against ISIS targets outside of al-Bab). Hence, Turkey’s renewed attempts at pressurising the US for providing actual support rather than just flying jets to “show of force.”
This explains why top Turkish officials continue to brandish the ‘Incirlik card.’ Turkish official also have fears that the out-going US president might sign a bill authorizing the Pentagon to train and equip the SDF before leaving office January 20. The Kurdish and Arab SDF is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), and Turkey insists that the YPG is no different from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is known for fighting for the creation of Kurdistan.
While the entire talk of expelling the US planes from the Incirlik base is more of a pressure tactic, it equally reveals the heavy odds Turkey is facing in Al-Bab, a city it is desperately trying to prevent from falling into the hands of PKK.
Were this to happen, the “corridor” would become a reality and Turkey might find itself involved in another protracted war that it can ill-afford at a time when its soldiers are dying in a foreign land and its own people are being killed in terrorist attacks—something that the Turks are realizing is a result of US’ dual polices.
Hence the important question: given the fall out between two NATO allies, will NATO face its first disintegration out of the crisis it hasn’t directly intervened in yet?
Turkey, understandibly, wants its security threat (the PKK) treated as the top priority in Syria. The Syrian/Iranian/Russian alliance places it second or third on the list (prioritizing liberating other, more militarily and politically important areas of Syria ahead on their list). The US and its axis places it fourth or fifth (prioritizing imposing an American friendly regime on the Syrian population, destroying Syrian infrastructure, denying Russia a ‘win’, and ‘containing’ Iran ahead on their list).
Anybody wants to be the friend of America?
whats funny is that America is only supporting the ypg cause russia offered to replace the US as their main ally if washington ended its support. Whats not mention in this article is the fact both syria and russia have also provided support for ypg when fighting against syrian opposition.
so then where is the outrage over rusian jets providing kurdish air support west of al bab?
This article is part of the problem in the region.
This article quite without merit, and heavily relies on hearsay. To suggest that the U.S. is arming against Turkey is complete fabrication to any common intelligence, and to use U.S. as scapegoat to make your article believable, to pander to your readers bias thinking , to make leaps about your own understanding and thinking of this situation is not journalism. That is all I see across the Middle East is those trying to shake the blame on others in every conceivable way possible. Yes, that makes complete sense to arm DAESH so they can kill Turks and anyone else they come in contact with, afterall, if your not on the side of Caliphate then all is fair game. No one believes that, and if them possessing arms of any types makes the argument, then you are being lazy in fact finding and real evidence. It’s been noted that DEASH has stolen and came into possession of many U.S. military possessions, taken for their own use. That does not mean the U.S. met with them and handed them over to fight Turkey. Yet, now Turkey wants to fight DAESH, after they looked the other way and allowed them to cross into Syria, and that is only the tip of their direct involvement with this group. They will tell their citizens anything to make them believe they are the victims here, and to cover their own mistakes and political propaganda.
I just love how so many of these actors in the region push blame and excuse their own behavior by blabbing endlessly about how the U.S. is so against everyone in the region. Blaming them for power outages and military coups. Why on Earth would the U.S., the major fighter of DAESH would suddenly arm them? And yet places like SA sit and say oh, the U.S. should have taken out ASSAD, while they sit on their asses fighting proxy wars, but never putting their military to work to take him out themselves, or for that matter not even tryin got take out DAESH either – after all, they have made it clear, SA would be next, they want the holy sites be under their control. Same country that won’t even given Muslims citizenship, same with Turkey, yet complain the rest of the world is against Muslims. These are their neighbors and they won’t do anything, same with Qater, no these people will cause civil unrest in our countries, so let the West figure it all out. They damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
And honestly, why should the U.S. risks more lives in that region, where from one day to the next these alliances shift, and even countries in that region are reluctant to put their own military to the fight, their own citizens on the battlefield. Yet they are the first to complain about NATO and the West, as though they are not doing enough or in this situation are trying to wage war with Turkey, that is such ridiculousness. I suppose it’s easier to spread misinformation against a country that people love to blame already.
Bottom line is that Muslims dominant countries, that are Sunni Muslims don’t want to go against DAESH, who are Sunnie Muslims (DEASH can tell you who they have actually worked with in that region and the funding they received) – yet have no problem spreading chaos to their citizens and blaming others for the situation they are unwilling to do anything about themselves, right in their own backyard. I can’t tell you how many articles and wrong information is presented from that region from those wishing to save face and blame the big old terrible United States for all the problems there. Your part of the world should have taken Assad out, saved countless lives and then put an end to DAESH, that’s if you truly cared about people, your fellow Muslim brothers and sisters. But hat is not what happened, and since the US didn’t take out Assad as thought they might, now spouting venom at the West.
Calling President Obama a lame duck, I see about 8 countries and – and so many young men fleeing the region, unwilling to stand up and fight, that is flock of lame ducks. This article is just part of the problem, and only making things worse.
Hypocrisy at is finest
Tepid policies when you are dealing with countries who expect everything and want to do nothing themselves. Turkey find themselves in this position of their own making, you can’t have it both ways – and as such they blame everything happening in their country and on their boarder on others—no, never could it be their own making, thier own political propaganda they must spout to cover their own mistakes and dealings. Lately that is all Turkey has done, is try and save face. For a Muslim country they certianly didn’t care about DAESH and them taking over parts of Syria and Iraq – even when they knew they were killing innocent Muslims, and now they wish to call out the West as racists and Xenaphobes. What a joke, President is right not to pander to those that play this way – the ME needs to learn to defend themselves instead of blaming others for not taking care of issues they should be doing themselves. And Turkey is no longer a country many wish to step foot in, he is systamatically destroying it – and wishing to blame others for doing it.