As the US, Russia and Syria’s Assad regime watch Turkey’s military operation against Kurds in northwest Syria grind on, Ankara is pointing fingers.
Speaking ahead of what will no doubt be an awkward visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this week, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Washington of intentionally stalling the fight against Islamic State militants as an excuse to maintain ties with Syrian Kurds. The YPG, as the main Kurdish force fighting Turkey is known, is considered a terrorist group by Ankara, and has been an ally of the US in the fight against ISIS. They are the target of Turkey’s operation “Olive Branch,” which aims to create a Turkish-controlled buffer zone between Turkey and Syria.
“[US-Turkey] relations are at a very critical stage,” Cavusoglu was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. “Either we will improve ties or these ties will totally break down.”
The US has publicly said it is not supporting YPG forces in the area, despite longstanding cooperation with the group.
In a new twist, the Assad regime, which like Turkey lives in constant friction with the independence-minded Kurds, has apparently offered quiet support for its erstwhile foes, allowing Kurdish forces to traverse regime-controlled territory to reinforce fighters in the northwest.
“There are different ways to get reinforcements to Afrin but the fundamental route is via regime forces. There are understandings between the two forces … for the sake of delivering reinforcements to Afrin,” Kino Gabriel, spokesman for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was quoted by Reuters as saying.
By most accounts the operation has been more slow and painful than Ankara was hoping for. Russia’s TASS news agency reported, citing a pro-Kurdish source, that YPG fighters have been containing the attacks of the Turkish-backed forces, managing to destroy four tanks on Monday.
Dencio Alejandro Antonio Are you confuse court is not UN organization ,it is private court , i think it is insane court becauses they said what we see it is island is a rock.
Betraying the Kurds in the naive belief that this would appease Erdogan and the Ayatollah was and is a disastrous American policy. The problem is that the elderly and backward lookinng generals want US planes in Turkey in NATO in case the Soviet Union returns. They are naive enough to believe that appeasement will work instead of encouraging the dictators to increase their efforts further abroad. The answer is to arm the Kurds to the teeth with SAMs and other modern weapons so the dictators are worry about their own borders instead of going into other countries. American needed a Churchill to lead it – it got two weak Chamberlains in a row.
Fake news. However it could be true that Assad is sending some humantarian aid to Kurds civilian citizens.