Locals express concern over Turkish escalation in northern Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkey is escalating its attacks on areas of northeast Syria despite the ceasefire agreements in place, raising fears that it will exploit the world’s preoccupation with the Russian-Ukrainian war to launch a new military operation.
Most recently, One civilian was killed and another was wounded by Turkish shelling overnight and early Monday in the countryside of Tel Abyad and Ain Issa in northern Syria.
Violating agreements
Following its incursion into Syria in October 2019, Turkey signed two ceasefire agreements – one with Russia and the other with the US – stipulating the ceasing of all Turkish offensive military actions in the country and the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to 32 km away from the Turkish border.
Local officials in northeast Syria now accuse Turkey of violating those ceasefire agreements.
While the SDF, which is the official defense force of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), withdrew from the border areas in accordance with the agreement, Turkey continues to target AANES areas.
Despite the daily bombing it is currently carrying out, Turkey has not officially announced any new military operation.
Nuri Mahmoud is the spokesperson for the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a predominantly Kurdish militia which is the primary component of the SDF. In comments to local media, Mahmoud clearly stated concerns about a possible Turkish military operation, noting that Turkey has been taking advantage of global circumstances and its strategic diplomatic position in relation to the Ukrainian-Russian war to advance its goals in northern Syria.
“There are serious possibilities for Turkey to launch new attacks on northeastern Syria,” Mahmoud stated to local media.
These concerns in Syria coincide with Turkey’s recently increased targeting of Kurdish fighters in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq (KRG).
Turkish-Syrian alliance against AANES
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu remarked last week on the possibility of dealing officially with the ruling government in Syria without recognizing its legitimacy, according to Asharq al-Awsat Newspaper.
Enhanced coordination between Turkey and the Russian-backed Damascus government would further pressure the Autonomous Administration, especially viewed in the context of recent Turkish drone strikes against AANES security personnel.
In an interview with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Monday, Badran Jia Kurd, deputy co-president of the AANES, said “Turkey has never minded to strike deals with any party in order to abort democratic projects, eliminate the Kurds and bring [itself] gains.”
Jia Kurd pointed out that the Turkish-Syrian ties “have not [been] suspended at all, at least at the level of the intelligence cooperation.”
“There is an indirect deal on countering the Autonomous Administration’s experiment, although it is a Syrian project working in the favor of Syria and its unity,” he added.
The US has not taken an official position regarding the new Turkish attacks , although the US embassy in Syria issued a tweet expressing its concern about the Turkish attack on Kobani and calling on “all parties to deescalate.”