Turkey’s operation in northern Syria is subject to ‘Russian mediation’
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Whether or not Turkey carries out its threats to launch a ground operation in Syria appears to depend on Moscow’s efforts and the initiative of “alternatives” that could prevent Ankara from overland removing Kurdish fighters from the 30-kilometer-deep border “safe zone” which I’ve talked about a lot in the past.
Turkish sources said that the Russian side is making efforts to meet Turkey’s demands in northern Syria as an alternative to the ground operation, adding that Ankara has mandated the withdrawal of Syrian democratic forces to a distance of 30 kilometers from the border with Turkey Syrian army returns to border, according to Sky News Arabia.
A spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, Aram Hanna, said that “SDF” is holding meetings with the Russian side to reduce escalation, maintain stability and prevent any Turkish military intervention in northern Syria.
Hanna denied that the “SDF” accepted the conditions set by Ankara, which included the withdrawal of the “SDF” to a distance of thirty kilometers from the border with Turkey, the surrender of leaders of the PKK in Syria, the deployment of Turkish army posts and surveillance cameras along the Syrian-Turkish border or handing over the entire region to the Syrian army.
Kurdish media quoted a spokesman for the “SDF” as saying that they reject Turkey’s demands and conditions at the meetings with the Russian side. And Russian media quoted the spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces as saying that the “SDF” had asked Russian officials to help conclude an agreement with Damascus to protect the land they control in the north-east of the country.
American rejection
Meanwhile, US National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby said Turkey has the right to defend terrorism against itself, but noted that his country opposes any move that would prevent the continuation of the war against ISIS affect or cause civilian casualties.
Yesterday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said he still feared a Turkish ground attack despite American assurances, and called for a “stronger” message from Washington after monitoring “unprecedented” Turkish reinforcements at the borders, he said . In a phone interview with Reuters, Abdi said: “There are reinforcements at the borders and inside Syria in areas controlled by Turkey’s allied factions.”
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Yesterday, Turkish Presidency spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that the military ground operation in northern Syria could start at any time and that it depended on Turkey’s assessment of the credentials in question, stressing that Turkey had not yet targeted any soldiers serving with the United States or Russia, and this is not one of their goals, and their only goal is the Kurdish People’s Defense Units.
Sky News Arabia quoted Kalin as saying that the military operation in northern Syria could be launched at any time, adding that “the military operation can be conducted in various ways and Ankara is the one who decides the date and the method of conduct.” “
He stressed that Turkey is not allowed by any party to raise its security concerns and will not be held accountable by anyone. According to a senior official, it will only take the Turkish armed forces a few days to be almost fully ready as the process will not take long to begin. Before the meeting, Reuters quoted another Turkish official as saying: “All preparations have been completed. Now the matter awaits political decision.”
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