Translated material
WSJ: Türkiye can prepare a military operation against the Kurds in Syria
After the fall of the regime of Bashar al -Assad in Syria, Türkiye increases the grouping of its troops along the borders with this country. The United States fear a possible Turkish invasion of the territory that is now controlled by the Syrian Kurds with which the United States cooperates, in particular, in the struggle against the Islamic State group.
This is written by The Wall Street Journal with reference to sources. According to high-ranking American officials, the Turkish special forces, the Syrian armed formations supported by Turkey, as well as a large amount of artillery, concentrate in the area adjacent to Koban (Ain-El-Arab). This city in the north of Syria is now being controlled by Kurdish forces. One of the American officials surveyed by WSJ believes that Turkey’s invasion is “inevitable”, its scale, however, is still unclear.
Türkiye in 2019, at the height of the Civil War in Syria, conducted an operation against the Kurdish forces in the north and northeast of this country. Then, under the control of pro -Turkish formations, a number of areas adjacent to the border passed. However, including by agreement with Russia, from the attack on some areas, including Kobani, Türkiye and the forces of the Syrian opposition supported by it, then refused.
After the overthrow of Bashar al -Assad, almost the entire Western part of Syria has passed to the control of the armed opposition, which is supported by Türkiye. The territory in the east and northeast, beyond the Euphrates River, however, remains under the control of the so-called Syrian democratic forces (SDS), the main role in which is played by the Kurdish militia. Türkiye considers armed detachments of the Syrian Kurds involved in terrorist activities.
The American military, located in Syria, on the contrary, cooperate with the Kurds. According to WSJ, the representative of the Civil Administration of the SDS Ilham Akhmed wrote a letter to the elected President of the United States Donald Trump, in which he asked him to put pressure on Turkish President Recep Erdogan to force him to abandon the military operation. Trump the day before, commenting on events in Syria, said that Türkiye now has all the trump cards in this country. At the same time, he subjected Ankara to criticize, announcing the "unfriendly absorption" of Syria.
Swarking soil. Life at the Russian military bases in Syria
The Russian military, who previously attended in the northeast of Syria, by reporting, leave their objects and concentrate on the Khmeimim military base in the province of Latakia. Negotiations on the fate of bases with the new Syria authorities, which Moscow recently called terrorists, continues. At the same time, emissaries from Western countries began to visit Damascus, which are also found with the informal leader of the new leadership of Syria, the head of the Islamist group Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham Abu Muhammad al-Julani (recently he began to use his original name-Ahmed Hussein Ash-Sharaa). According to the head of the EU foreign policy, Kai Kallas, many European Union countries believe that the withdrawal of Russian bases from Syria may become a condition for establishing the EU relations with the new authorities in Damascus.
The New Arab publication, citing Syrian sources, claims that Russia is preparing to evacuate its bases in Khmeimim and Tartus for a month and 10% of its forces allegedly already left Syria. This information is not confirmed from other sources.