Two maps to give just a hint of the complexity.
The extent of "Kurdish areas" shown on maps varies wildly depending on who is drawing the map, and with what motive.
Posted on 11/29/2022 12:23:41 AM PST by Cronos
ONCUPINAR: Turkey’s army needs just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria and such a decision may come at a cabinet meeting on Monday, Turkish officials said, as Turkish forces bombarded a Kurdish militia across the border.
Howitzers fired daily from Turkey have struck Kurdish YPG targets for a week, while warplanes have carried out air strikes.
The escalation comes after a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul two weeks ago that Ankara blamed on the YPG militia. The YPG has denied involvement in the bombing and has responded at times to the cross-border attacks with mortar shelling.
“The Turkish Armed Forces needs just a few days to become almost fully ready,” one senior official said, adding that Turkey-allied Syrian rebel fighters were ready for such an operation just a few days after the Nov 13 Istanbul bomb.
“It won’t take long for the operation to begin,” he said. “It depends only on the president giving the word.” Turkey has previously launched military incursions in Syria against the YPG, regarding it as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey, the United States and European Union designate a terrorist group.
The PKK has also denied carrying out the Istanbul attack, in which six people were killed on a busy pedestrian avenue. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would launch a land operation when convenient to secure its southern border. He will chair a cabinet meeting at 3:30pm.
“All the preparations are complete. It’s now a political decision,” another Turkish official said, also requesting anonymity ahead of the meeting.
Erdogan said back in May that Turkey would soon launch a military operation against the YPG in Syria, but such an operation did not materialise at that time.
The first Turkish official said a ground operation, targeting the areas of Manbij, Kobani and Tel Rifat, was inevitable to link up the areas brought under the control of Turkey and its Syrian allies with incursions since 2016.
Ankara had been in contact with Moscow and Washington about its military activities, the person added.
The United States has told Nato member Turkey it has serious concerns that an escalation would affect the goal of fighting IS militants in Syria. Russia asked Turkey to refrain from a full-scale ground offensive. It has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s 11-year war, while Ankara has backed rebels fighting to topple him.
On Monday, the defence ministry said Turkey’s army had “neutralised” 14 YPG militants preparing to carry out attacks in Syrian areas under Turkey’s control. It typically uses the term to describe casualties.
The defence ministry said on Saturday three Turkish soldiers had been killed in northern Iraq, where the military has been conducting an operation against the PKK since April. Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, having travelled to the Iraqi border area, was quoted as telling military commanders on Sunday that Turkey will “complete the tasks” of the mission.
They are responding to the bombing in istanbul
No. It is the pretense of retaliation for the bombing in Istanbul. Turkey is still supporting ISIS and are still using the background noise to justify taking over N. Syria. Since Erdoo, Turkey is not a reliable NATO ally.
Escobar: Operation Claw-Sword - Erdogan’s Big New Games In Syria
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-operation-claw-sword-erdogans-big-new-games-syria
Two maps to give just a hint of the complexity.
The extent of "Kurdish areas" shown on maps varies wildly depending on who is drawing the map, and with what motive.
If Turkey is so concerned about Kurdish militants then why don’t they simply hand over the occupied territory to the Assad government and let him win?
Also: Any accounting of events in “Kurdland” that do not discuss the oil being pumped out of the ground in eastern Syria under American military protection, which is then sent south into Iraq, (and some possibly going by truck convoy to Turkey), is simply not to be taken seriously.
Any accounts that do not discuss Erdogon’s phone cons with Assad last week, not to be taken seriously.
Any accounts that do not discuss the timing of both Turkish and Iranian airstrikes against Kurdish camps, not to be taken seriously.
Any accounts that do not discuss the Turkish interior minister lashing out at the USA, essentially accusing America of complicity in the Istanbul bombing, not to be taken seriously.
I can think of another half dozen conflict vectors, but I don’t want to write an opus.
It’s like the blind men describing an elephant, when none of them can see the totality, or even understand what an elephant is.
You think Turkey can simply "hand over" this area to Assad?
U.S. Army soldiers, supporting Kurdish "fighters" (many are rebranded FSA/AQ/ISIS), control Syria's eastern oil fields. All overseen by Hellfire-armed Predator drones on call.
[The 900 admitted troops are just the token force. What counts are the Predators, and the suitcases full of $100 bills the CIA hands out to various warlords to buy their temporary loyalty.]
It's a very thorny situation. Anybody who tries to explain it from one simple POV is basically a blind man touching just a part of an elephant he's never seen.
This image may be the best way to imagine "the Kurdish question."
Another decent article. Most of the better ones are not in English. This one is very American-centric, but it contains many of the important crisis vectors, even if mostly from an American POV.
[Excerpt] During the meeting, the US ambassador reportedly offered a 30-kilometer pullback of Kurdish forces to prevent Turkey from launching its promised ground offensive. According to a Kurdish media report, however, Ankara has not only demanded a 30-kilometer withdrawal of the SDF from Turkey’s borders, but also that all members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Syria be handed over to Turkish custody.
The report also states that Turkey has demanded “the allocation of partial oil revenues in SDF-controlled areas for the benefit of factions loyal to Ankara [and the areas under their control],” referring to the Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Ankara has also requested the establishment of “observation points,” either independent ones or joined by the US coalition, to allow Turkey to “monitor weapons transfers [following the SDF withdrawal].”
The Kurdish report also states that Ankara is willing to “substitute” all of its conditions with a handover “of the entire area” to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The report also accused Turkey of having a secret agreement with Russia that would allow it to occupy more Syrian territory. This could be due to Russian pressure on the Kurdish militants to withdraw.
While the US mediates between Turkey and the Kurds, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Friday that a Turkish ground offensive in Syria is still imminent and will begin “when the time comes.”
Yes, Turkey could easily pull out if they wanted to and leave the American military’s illegal occupation of Syria exposed. I would welcome it greatly.
The most oil in Iraq belongs to the Kurds.
I am no fan of erdgon, but turkey were the only ones calming tensions in the black sea, easing things back from ww3.
Then they were bombed,now this whole thing is spinning out of control.
I find honest reports in straits times and hindustan times,never the New York times
Who bombed Turkey?
I doubt very seriously that the Kurds did it.
I know the region.
Erdoo is an Islamist Dictator. There was a time when the Kemalists would have stopped what is happening.
it appears to be a female Kurdish suicide bomber
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