Turkey-backed Syria forces aim to push on against Kurdish groups

Selcan Hacaoglu, Bloomberg News on Dec 18, 2024

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Turkey-backed forces are aiming to capture more territory in northern Syria from Kurdish groups, according to Turkish officials familiar with the matter, a move that could stir tensions with the U.S.

Turkey and the Syrian National Army, which is funded and advised by Ankara, are taking advantage of the collapse of the Assad regime, the people said. The SNA will likely try to capture areas to the west of Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobani by its mostly Kurdish inhabitants, said the people, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The SNA has seized two northwestern towns since late November from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish group that has been a key ally in the U.S.’s fight against Islamic State.

The military push in the wake of Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s downfall is in line with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-term goals.

Erdogan wants to create a buffer zone along the Turkey-Syria border and prevent infiltrations by Kurdish militants regarded as a threat by Ankara.

While Joe Biden’s administration has so far said little on the issue, some senators have threatened sanctions against Turkey unless it stops the SNA’s campaign.

“If Turkey doesn’t immediately accept these terms, we intend to introduce bipartisan sanctions legislation this week,” Senators Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said on Tuesday.

President-elect Donald Trump, speaking this week, praised Turkey and Erdogan, and said the country will be a key player shaping Syria’s future. He didn’t comment on the SNA and Kurdish forces.

Turkey’s ultimate goal is for the SNA to capture the entire Syria-Turkey border area that runs for more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) to Iraq, though that will prove tough, the people said. The SNA is already being slowed by land mines planted by the Kurdish forces on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, the people said.

The SNA’s push began as Assad’s government began to crumble in the face of an advance on Damascus by another rebel group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. HTS now controls the capital and other major cities including Aleppo.

Turkey says HTS supports its goal of dismantling Kurdish forces. HTS hasn’t publicly commented on that.

In 2014, Kurdish groups repelled a weeks-long offensive by Islamic State in Kobani, with the U.S. airlifting arms to them. The town of Kobani could again be a flashpoint, this time between Kurdish and Turkish-backed fighters.

Turkey sees Kurdish YPG forces, which are a leading faction within the SDF, as an affiliate of the PKK. The PKK has fought for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast since 1984 and is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, while the YPG isn’t.

Turkey has previously proposed to the U.S. that Turkish and American forces can form the vanguard of the fight against Islamic state in Syria.