As tensions between Damascus and Ankara escalate, knowledgeable sources say the Syrian military is growing its presence in northern Syria as separatist Kurdish forces withdraw below ongoing Russian-coordinated talks between the 2 sides.
Citing sources near the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper reported that Russian forces raised the extent of coordination between the Syrian military and the SDF militants with the goal of enabling the Syrian military to develop their presence within the metropolis of Tabqa and the northern countryside of Raqqah.
The sources revealed that Russian officers coordinated a gathering on Wednesday between officers of the Syrian military and leaders of the SDF within the constructing of the self-proclaimed “protection ministry” of the militant group within the metropolis.
They stated the assembly centered on enabling the Syrian military to be stationed in these areas because the SDF militants withdraw.
The event comes in opposition to the backdrop of Ankara’s fixed threats to launch a large army operation in opposition to Kurdish militants in northern Syria to determine what it calls a “safe line” alongside Turkey’s border with the Arab nation.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as soon as once more hinted at his plan for a cross-border operation in Syria to take away members of the Kurdish Individuals’s Safety Units (YPG) militant group, which is the spine of the SDF.
“We’ll proceed our battle in opposition to terrorism. Our determination to determine a 30-kilometer-deep (18.6-mile) safe line alongside our southern border is closing,” Erdogan claimed.
Turkey has launched successive army incursions into Syria and deployed its forces within the Arab nation to crush Kurdish militants.
Ankara-backed militants had been deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019 after Turkish army forces launched a cross-border invasion in a declared try to push YPG fighters away from border areas.
Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist group tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Staff’ Occasion (PKK), which has been looking for an autonomous Kurdish area in Turkey since 1984.
Militants slam Turkish backstab
Turkey has additionally strongly opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because the starting of the foreign-backed battle within the Arab nation in 2011 and has been supporting militants calling for his removing from energy.
Nonetheless, on Friday, remarks made by Turkish Overseas Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu angered the identical Ankara-backed militants, who took to the streets in main northern cities, together with A’zaz, al-Bab and Afrin, that are below the occupation of the Turkish army and the militants, to protest in opposition to what they thought to be a rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara and a stab of their again.
Cavusoglu on Thursday known as for reconciliation between the Syrian authorities and the militants, saying, “In any other case, there will likely be no lasting peace, we at all times say this.”
He additionally revealed that he had briefly met his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in October on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Motion summit.
In response, protesters brandished the so-called Syrian opposition flags, one in all which learn, “No reconciliation, the revolution continues.”
Dozens additionally gathered at a Turkish military checkpoint in Idlib’s Mastuma space, the place they shouted slogans in opposition to each Damascus and Ankara.
Ankara reaffirms help for militants
The protests prompted the Turkish authorities to again down, with Turkish Overseas Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic saying in a press release on Friday that Ankara “threw full help behind the opposition and the negotiation committee all through the political course of.”
Bilgic accused the Syrian authorities of “dragging the political course of,” including that Cavusoglu’s remarks additionally pointed to this.
“Turkey, in cooperation with all stakeholders of the worldwide group, will proceed to make a powerful contribution to the efforts to discover a everlasting answer to this battle according to the expectations of the Syrian folks,” he claimed.
‘New assault on Syria will solely profit ruling get together in Turkey’
In yet one more growth in current days, Turkish intellectuals issued a joint assertion calling for the prevention of a brand new army aggression by their nation in opposition to Syria.
The intellectuals, together with academicians, journalists, writers and actors, burdened {that a} new incursion into the Arab nation is not going to profit anybody however the ruling authority in Ankara, Syria’s official information company SANA reported, citing Turkish media.
In return, they continued, it is going to trigger nice hurt to the remainder of the Turkish folks, along with the younger people who find themselves compelled to battle and be killed in international lands for the survival of the ruling Turkish authorities.
Allocating large prices for arms and battle in Turkey, the place hundreds of thousands of residents are dealing with large residing difficulties in all fields, will irritate the financial issues of the nation’s residents and the difficulties of every day life, the Turkish mental warned.
