Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made his comments during a speech to AK party members in Ankara on October 26. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Turkey will enter northeastern Syria and has already shared its plans with Russia and the U.S, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on August 4.
“We entered Afrin, Jarabulus, al-Bab. Now we will enter the [region] east of the Euphrates. We shared this [plan] with Russia and the U.S. As long as harassment fire continues, we cannot remain silent,” the Daily Sabah quoted Erdogan as saying.
The Turkish President went on to said Ankara has been patient on the situation in northeastern Syria for some time, but that “patience has an end.”
A Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is ruling Syria’s northeastern region with support from the U.S. Ankara views the force, which has close ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as a threat to its national security.
Last month, Turkey and the U.S. initiated talks on a possible security zone in northeastern Syria. However, Ankara was deeply unsatisfied with U.S. proposals.
“New U.S. proposals on a Syria safe zone are not at all satisfactory for Turkey,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference on July 24.
Turkey’s frustration with the U.S. blind commitment to the SDF became clear on July 26 when Erdogan warned that the Turkish military will launch an operation in northeastern Syria regardless of the results of the talks with Washington.
Erdogan’s new statement shows that Turkey is very serious about addressing northeastern Syria issue. This could push the U.S. and its Kurdish proxies to compromise, or lead to a dangerous military confrontation.
Ok guys. The bets are on. How will the US and Russia troops respond if it really happens?
Russia will do nothing……they focus on the terrorist area of Idlib. maybe they have a new deal. since Turkey hasnt kept its promise there (the terrorists that it supports have their own agenda to keep) , Turkey will stay out of there and focus on the Kurds which is a big deal for domestic politics. so there is no Russia on the equation there. US will bend the knee again. they will allow Turkey to reach the river hoping Turkey will return to their arms again.
Ηριστο it has already been decided by US<UK<FR and Germany to use the opportunity to teach Turkey a lesson by getting the Cypriots and Greeks and (US and Israel) to simultaneously liberate Cyprus and carve up a country for the Kurds out of s.e Turkey. The only way to teach the sultan some manners.
The Russians will encourage this to put pressure on the Kurds to reconcile with Damascus. Also because this will distract the Turks from supporting their Jihadi puppets in Idlib. As for the US this would be a nightmare as they don’t want to have a fight between their two allies, the Kurds and the Turks, just like they always clamped down on when Greece and Turkey came close to a shooting match again.
On the flipside East Syria is vast, bigger then the territories the Turks have taken sofar. And considering that both against the Kurds in Afrin and ISIS in North Aleppo the Turks moved slowly while using lots of Jihadi Orcs as meatshields it will take them a long time to take East Syria. And a lot of JIhadi’s as meatshields. There might not be enough Orcs in Afrin and Euphrates Shield territory. And after those two campaigns they might not be up for another bout of being Turkish meatshields. Which means the Turkish advance will be limited only. Then again they might not need to take all of East Syria to destroy the SDF, they only have to take the Kurdish regions along the border. Take those and the Kurds lose their sort of homelands, becoming homeless squatters in Arab SDF territory. And without the Kurds the SDF would lose its main pillar.
A homeless army gets much more dangerous and Afrin shows you are wrong. Kurdish forces retreated mostly intact to Shaba region, majority arab, and are still fighting against islamists. They have killed hundreds over the last year.
Beyond that, as long as USAF denies TuAF entry to the region, TSK will not win against SDF. Expect major heavy arms shipments if and when Turks try another genocide.
The Kurds who fight in Afrin do so because they get support from the Assad government. They operate from government held area and get their supplies from there. Otherwise there wouldn’t be any fight going on whatsoever. You need bases to operate from and regroup. And Afrin has shown that when push comes to shove between Turkey and the Kurds the US will throw the Kurds underneath the bus, because they need the Turks more. The S-400 deal has shown that the US cannot bully the Turks into complying, so if the Turks go into SDF territory they will force the US to chose again.
And homeless armies are less dangerous. That’s why whole population displacement has been such a time honored tactic. And army that has lost its home will be filled with hate, yes, but it has also lost its bases, which also makes it toothless. You need bases to fight. And if the US were to allow the Turks to capture the Kurdish Rojava areas, then WTF have the Kurds gained from fighting for the US?
“The Kurds who fight in Afrin do so because they get support from the Assad government. They operate from government held area and get their supplies from there”.
That’s correct.
SAA wants pressire on Turkey and its mercenaries. SDF provides much pressure.With a bit of help from SAA, SDF is a major thorn to Turkey out of Shaba and fights are escalating.
The SDF aren’t the Kurds fighting the Turks, the group fighting the Turks is called the Afrin Liberation Front [ALF], it’s mainly made up from displaced Kurds from the eastern enclave, but has increasing numbers of SDF fighters joining them who’ve abandoned the SDF to fight with the ALF. A lot of us believe the AFL is covertly assisted by Syrian government.
Many Kurdish news sources have been reporting that not only are the Kurds joining the ALF to fight the Turks in Afrin, they’re also joining regular Syrian army units in substantial numbers in preparation of an upcoming fight in Idlib, I’m starting to believe they’re right.
You forget SDF has bases all the way to the Euphrates, in the east over 300 kms from the border.
Many regiments have been trained by the SDF, consisting mainly of arabs. Most fought well in the last battles. And your assumption US will support Turkey in Rojava is baseless except for Afrin, that never had an US presence.
And you assume that when having to chose between the Kurds and Turkey the US will pick the Kurds. That the US would pick a short term ally they need to counter Iran for a long term ally that occupies incredibly important strategic real estate and has been in NATO since the 1950’s. Yeah, Erdogan is an ass, we can all agree on that, but is him being an ass it worth giving Putin the keys to the Black Sea and the first country to leave NATO over some social marxists in Syria? I don’t think so. In the end Erdogan won’t be in power forever, in which case it would be preferable to have his successor still lead a country that is inside NATO and not in an alliance with Russia.
“Beyond that, as long as USAF denies TuAF entry to the region, TSK will not win against SDF. Expect major heavy arms shipments if and when Turks try another genocide”.
I agree.
The turkish army was the spearhead in Afrin, they didn’t use Jihadi Orcs
They always use Jihadi Orcs as meatshields. While Turkish tankers are reasonably safe inside their tanks, Turkish infantry are far more vulnerable and would suffer far more casualties then even Erdogan can get away with. Whereas Jihadi Orcs are like mercenaries. Politically their lives cost nothing. Lose a 100 in a single battle and nobody will care. Lose a 100 Turkish soldiers in one battle and there will be blowback for Erdogan.
The Russians won’t do anything. The Americans will lay on sanctions in the name of S-400.
the US will proclaim support for SDF but when Turkey starts rolling personally, all will probably be directly out of the way but the US will continue supplies and Israel might transport irregulars it trained. The ongoing tide of battle as well as economic considerations will determine subsequent actions by all parties.
They’ll both do the opposite of what Erdogan’s expecting them to do, and Erdogan will find out the hard way.
But what IF he wanted them to do the “opposite” all along? lol But given the necessity of giving out the message, he has already made up his mind. And therefore factored in the worst scenario.
Already factored in the worst case scenario, but the worst case scenario would be a nuclear strike by either Russia or the US against Turkey, specifically against the nuclear missiles kept on Turkish soil, so Erdogan couldn’t somehow use them, that’s about the worst case scenario I could imagine for Erdogan, so I wonder if he’s factored that into the equation, and if he has, I wonder what his solution will be.
I think Erdogan believes both Trump and Putin will capitulate to whatever Erdogan decides to do, and that’s because Erdogan’s a megalomaniac with ethnic and religious superiority issues, and most likely just a little insane too, he actually believes he can prevail no matter what happens.
In one sense Erdogan is starting to remind me of both Hitler and Napoleon, they both believed they were invincible and could achieve anything, but reality came crashing down on both of them eventually, and so it will on Erdogan, eventually.
LOL No. There are about 50 pieces of B-61 thermonuclear bombs in Turkey. Kept mostly at Incirlik , they are all located in some deep bunkers and securely encyrpted.
Impossible to operate or them without codes. I dont think anyone will take the risk of dismembering them either. Each is told to be around 250 to 400 kilotons. ( Hiroshima was about 15 kt) So destroying a-bombs with a-bombs will be equivalent to more than 1000 Hiroshimas , which will turn all ME , Europe and almost half of Russia in to a nuclear desert.
De Facto coalition partners of Erdogan ( Dogu Perinçek group ) have already started a campain for removal of these a-bombs from TR. Perinçek is also close friend of Alexander Dugin , who has close relations with Putin. After Russian Jet was downed by Turkish f-16 Erdogan contacted Putin via Perinçek-Dugin channel.
Secondly , you can not have both ethnic and religious superiority. Erdogan has only one , guess which one..
Finally , it is not only Erdogan taking the decisions. Fyg, Turkish drone , national tank, warships projects started long before Erdogan. US saw TR slipping out of western axis decades ago and threatened TR many times since last 30 years.
Just an example,
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/02/world/us-missiles-hit-turkish-ship-killing-5.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=A902C5BC06D72A71E571EB94AC5125DF&gwt=pay&assetType=REGIWALL
Blowing up A bombs with A bombs that are buried deep in bunkers doesn’t set off the bombs buried in the bunkers, it just makes then unusable and unrecoverable, but my worst case scenario proposal was made more in jest than seriousness.
And why can’t you have both Ethnic and Religious superiority complexes at the same time, I’m pretty sure you can, it’s not like they’re mutually exclusive. And I left out his Political ideology complex and his ego, which means I think he has four complexes all working together shaping his ambitions, and none of them are exclusive to each other, but in truth I think his ego is the main driver of his ambitions.
It’s only over the last decade that I’ve noticed a fracturing of the US Turkish political relationship, the NATO Turkey relationship earlier than that, but Erdogan has also destroyed the once good relationship Turkey had with Israel too, as well as it’s relationship with the Arab league, Erdogan has also upsets EU countries like Germany France and Britain, who have large Muslim populations that vote according to Muslim Brotherhood dictates and not always in the countries they live in best interests.
I could go on and add to the list but I’m sure you get my drift, Erdogan is the common denominator in all the fractured relationships that Turkey now has with all it’s old friends and allies, the last decade he’s been in power is the decade I’ve noticed the most relationships destroyed.
Erdogan, Putin and Trump agreement put Syrian forces on risk and betrayal as usual.Next Israel agreement.
Its good news that Turkey plans to enter in North East Syria but it looks too difficult because Turkey will risk its forces and will suffer lots of casualities and at the end of the day Turkey will retreat. Its better for Turkey to do some homework jointly with Syrian government and then start operation. Safety precautions are highly recommended.
Turkish military forces will get their asses killed. They fight like bitches.
These idiots never have a plan, they just have large convoys for target practice by the enemy. Hope some Turkish support aircraft get shot down.
May be you can tell all the world here how to invade a 600 km long front line guarded by 100K people without a military build up.
Middle East needs you, Rodney . Why dont you register as the batallion bugler and secure your position in the front lines? BTW dont forget to bring your service weapon with you , ie your keyboard.
And how are you typing you fucking retard ? With your m16 ?
Fucking turkish shit kebap moron !
Why you invading Syria ? And you dont even use your own army , u use local mercenaries, what are you afraid off ?
The KURDS been kicking your asses, both the local Erdogan employees and the regular turkgaysh army !
Watting to see the counter attack and turkgay becoming the islamic republic of Ankara !
Keep dreaming sub saharan ape.
All competent armies use proxies when they can kid. This was and is the reality of warfare which you table serving slaves will never understand.
Kurds just accepted 5 km depth safety zone with in Syria while you type your stupidity here about Kurds kicking some ass or whatsoever.
If you love kurds so much , why you delivered Abdullah Ocalan to the laps of Turkish Secret service At Nairobi ?
Illiterate tw*t.
5 kms deep except for cities. A zone without turks and without mercenaries, under control of local MC’s, like they are now. Only difference to the present is withdrawal of heavy arms ( few if any) and more visible presence of french and UK sf.
Now the offer is 15 km depth and 140 km in lenght, as you were typing above comment.
Why SDF is giving such a concession ? Are they afraid of something ?
There is only one cure for the Turk virus.
And what is that ? Fueling wars 10.000 miles away i from home ? Or allowing retired piglets to push their propaganda on net ?
Why dont you all pack up and go home ?
Why dont you mongolian pack up and go back in your cave in the mongolian desert !
Sure. We will take the long way and dump you at Sub Sahara where you all came from.
This is proof that Syria is not sovereign; why didn’t they inform the Syrian government, because they don’t matter?
This is premedited genocide by the country that has commited the most genocides in the world.
Trump and Putin are equally guilty for turning the blind eye.
Shut up stupid greek idiot .
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SparklingDesertedCirriped-size_restricted.gif
Kid lost control again. Now we can see how a wise decision to kick all of the from Anatolia. If we did not send all his kin together with their goats in 1923, now he would be writing from Anatolia and would constitute a national security risk. But now he is just a clown crying from Mickey Mouse Land called Greece , far away.
Quit crying sub saharan ape. You are still crying after 100 years and you still can not sit on your cheap asses.
Come here , we will give you some pontus. LOL
Keep raping your own mothers and sisters mongolian. Nobody else will.
Turkish pigs doing this in hope to get piece of Syrian soli. They’ll get big dick in their asses.
My d… C behind you go on bend down get the vasellin ready scumbag
As long as he doesn’t have permission of the legitimately elected government of Bashar Al Asad, this move by Turkey violates all international laws and norms. Turkey is being sucked in for a kill by Arab and Assyrian tribes that have been weaponized and provided logics to, and a, the battle hardened NDF, whom have whom shed the have shed their uniforms as to not distinguished them, would in alone cause a lethal, hardcore, vicious insurgency. Turkey gambled in Syria, and it will pay a heavy price.
You mean the ”battle hardened NDF” which is still trying to deal with handkerchief sized Idlib since months ? Same NDF which could not deal with Kurds in Afrin and Allowed TR to take control of Afrin ?
If NDF had such a power, it would clean the East of Euphrates itself , not support Turkish action via Russian statements.
The Syrian lands which are now controlled by TR will be returned back to Syria after completion of new Syrian Constitution and free elections in Syria under supervision of UN. This is the only chance for Syrian unity , if Turkey had not intervened , Kurds would have already decleraed their independence over there. TR is the sole chance of Syrians for an united Syria.
Like Turkey has given back Hatay?
From whom Hatay was taken and by what means ?
Can you elaborate ?
LOL, Erdogan’s been saying the same thing over and over for the last 6 months, and the US has been saying the same thing over and over back to him, no you can’t, we won’t let you.
What’s more the US has built several bases in strategic locations near the Turkish border to inhibit any incursions by the Turks, and they’ve also increased air reconnaissance near the Turkish border, also shipped in 1500 trucks filled with weapons and equipment for the SDF [Turkey’s enemies], and consistently said, we will protect the Kurds if we have to.
Erdogan may be biting off more than he can chew this time.
It’ll be fun to watch the Turks and the Kurds kill each other for the next few months.
This point is important…..Russia has allowed Turkey (NATO member) to take this action.
the kurds have been a continuous pain in the neck to turkey, to syria, to iraq and to iran for eons and this is just a part of the operation to contain them in the borderland. the syrian war opened a door to independence for the kurds and they were led along like tethered goats by the dysfunctional states of A (on behalf of the squatters) and now when the dust starts to settle, it will be the kurds that are sacrificed, i.e. there is no place for the kurds. and rest assured that neither turkey, syria, iraq or iran will grant them any kind of independence. so it will be back to square one,.
good and now turkey can get to the root of one of the problems – the kurds. Turkey no doubt will wipe the floor with the kurds who will scream and holler that it’s unfair and that the dysfunctional states of A promised to assist in the liberation of kurdistan – while the dysfunctional states of A is looking for nato to keep turkey as a member. the s-400 is forgiven and soon the f35s will arrive and incirlik will be operational for the dysfunctionalstates and nato – there is no two way about it. a nato with turkey guarding the eastern flank towards eurasia vis a vis the kurds trumps all promises made by washington dc.
Though highly unlikely, it is not beyond possible. We will see.
Isn’t it good for Assad that Turks will clean up Kurds on their behalf. The worst outcome is that Turks will stay there replacing US in northeast of Syria. Still good i think.
won’t happen – turkey will mop up the kurdish issue and once that is accomplished will revert behind the border.
THEY ARE WITHDRAWING NOW THAT THE RUSSIAN ARMY ARE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN IDLIB < NO ONE FUCKS AROUND WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY !!