Heading on a collision course in Northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] warned Turkey that any attack would be repelled with force. Considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the SDF is comprised of the Kurdish Protection Units [YPG] and Sunni Arab fighters. Used by the U.S. military as a de facto fighting force in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS], the SDF are the U.S. boots-on-the-ground, mounting a fierce battle to retake ISIS’s self-declared capital of Raqqa. With over 1,000 Special Forces in Syria, the U.S. plays an advisory role, letting the SDF do the fighting. If Turkey had its way, it would wipe out the YPG involvement in the SDF, something that would guarantee ISIS would stay in Syria for the foreseeable future. Fighting the U.S. battle, the Kurds have little to gain and a lot to lose battling ISIS in Raqqa.
Kurdish SDF official Naser Haj Mansour told Reuters that if Turkey tries to attack SDF positions, they would attack back. “If they go beyond the known lines” around Aleppo, then there would be military consequences. Part of NATO, the U.S. State Department would have some tough decisions going after Turkey, a member of NATO. Showing no signs of backing down, Mansour said he wants no confrontation with Turkey but if they attack the SDF would have no choice but to defend their positions. “Certainly there is a big possibility of open and fierce confrontation in this area, particularly given that the SDF is equipped and prepared,” said Mansour, warning Turkey about stepping into the conflict. Pentagon officials walk a tightrope placating the Turks and, at the same time, keeping the mission focused on defeating ISIS in Raqqa and in Mosul, Iraq.
Turkish President Recep Yayyip Erdogan has made clear he sees all Kurds and enemies of the Turkish people. Whether the YPG works hard with the U.S. to defeat ISIS, Erdogan considers Kurds as his enemy. “If it [the Turkish army] attacks, we will defend, and if it attacks there will be clashes,” putting the U.S. on notice that Kurdish boots-on-the-ground fighting ISIS is unacceptable to Ankara. Confined to the hinterlands of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the Kurds have no homeland, often subjected to hostile actions by several countries. Without a sovereign Kurdistan, the Kurds have no independent state yet find themselves battling ISIS for the U.S. military. Whether Erdogan accepts it or not, defeating ISIS obligates foreign powers to provide some measure sovereignty to the Kurds. Turkey considers the Kurdish Workers Party [PKK] the enemy of the state.
Threatening SDF forces, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey would fire on the SDF for any cross-border gunfire. Kurtululmus specifically warned the U.S. against arming the YPG, considered a part of the PKK enemy, for any reason, including battling ISIS in Raqqa. Turkey has its own agenda in Syria, largely assuring that any post-War Syria does not include sovereignty for the Kurds who’ve been seeking a homeland since the Ottoman Empire was forced after WW I in 1918 to carve up its empire. Mansour put Turkey on notice that any skirmish would set back the mission of capturing Raqqa, something high the U.S. priority list. “There is a plan to impose a complete siege, but if this will take a day or two days, I can’t say,” said Mansour, putting the U.S. on notice that Turkey’s attacks would set back the Raqqa mission indefinitely.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson walks a tightrope placating Turkey, while, at the same time, backing the SDF to promptly work toward defeating ISIS in Raqqa. With the Iraq military battling ISIS door-to-door in Mosul, the fall of ISIS in Raqqa is an essential step in defeating world’s most lethal terror group. Watching attacks mount in Europe and the U.S., Tillerson must keep his eye on the ball, staving off Turkey from sabotaging the U.S.-backed SDF campaign against ISIS in Syria. Running behind Iraq forces in Mosul, Turkey can’t be allowed to slow down the SDF’s siege of Raqqa. Conducting fierce battles in Raqqa, the SDF has seen progress with less car bombs and suicide bombers. “Meaning they are conducting fierce battles in some strategic positions,” said Mansour, insisting the SDF must keep up the pressure on ISIS, not get waylaid battling Turkish forces in Syria.
President Donald Trump must put Erdogan on notice that the U.S. won’t tolerate any attempt by Turkey to weaken the SDF forces, whether or not Turkey doesn’t like the U.S. partnering with the Kurds. U.S. officials must work with the Kurds to assure that following the war they get a sovereign homeland. However Erdogan objects, the U.S must stand by its Kurdish allies that helped defeat ISIS. With ISIS terror attacks hitting Europe, it’s a top priority to evict ISIS from Mosul and Raqqa, no matter what the objections from Turkey. Watching ISIS slow down its attacks in Syria and Iraq, it’s clear ISIS is heading to defeat. “Maybe more than a month or month and a half,” Mansour estimated the fall of Raqqa. State Department and Pentagon officials must prepare for possible attack by Turkey, perceiving the Kurds as a mortal threat to Turkish sovereignty. Beating ISIS, Turkey has no case against the Kurds.
