DEAR FRIENDS. IF YOU LIKE THIS TYPE OF CONTENT, SUPPORT SOUTHFRONT WORK:
PayPal: southfront@list.ru, http://southfront.org/donate/ or via: https://www.patreon.com/southfront, BTC: 3Gbs4rjcVUtQd8p3CiFUCxPLZwRqurezRZ, BCH ABC: qpf2cphc5dkuclkqur7lhj2yuqq9pk3hmukle77vhq, ETH: 0x9f4cda013e354b8fc285bf4b9a60460cee7f7ea9
The Turkish Army has been increasing its military presence in Greater Idlib despite the recent withdrawal of observation posts, which had been encircled by the Syrian Army.
Recently, the Turkish military deployed major reinforcements to Mount al-Zawiya. Turkish military convoys deployed to the area included battle tanks and BMC Kirpi armoured vehicles. Mount al-Zawiya is controlled by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham together with its supposedly ‘moderate counterparts’ from the Turkish-created National Front for Liberation. Turkey has been reinforcing its troops in the Mount al-Zawiya region for the last two months. It has also established several permanent positions in the area.
At the same time, the Turkish military has been undertaking active steps to reinforce its positions along the M4 highway in southern Idlib. Recently, Turkish forces have even started creating watch towers additionally to the permanent observation posts that they already have there.
The situation in northern Syria also remains tense. As recently as January 3, intense clashes had broken out between Turkish proxies and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces near the town of Ain Issa. Turkish-backed militants tried to capture the villages of Hwshan and al-Khalidiyah in another attempt to block the part of the M4 highway that runs by there.
These developments came amid cries from pro-Turkish propaganda that the ‘cowardly’ Assad regime and the Russians are planning to violate the de-escalation agreement and to capture the Turkish-occupied town of al-Bab in northern Aleppo.
The SDF keeps apace with Sultan Erdogan and also shows no sign of dropping its attempts to bite off a piece of Syria. On December 30, Sinam Mohamad, a representative of the SDF political wing in Washington, called on US President-elect Joe Biden to recognize the SDF-controlled territory in northern Syria as a de-facto state. This, he claimed, will help to improve the security and humanitarian situation there. The SDF has also repeatedly declared its support for the illegal US presence in Syria and for the US occupation of Syrian energy resources on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
Under such conditions, there is no surprise that the group’s Kurdish leadership prefers to turn a blind eye to the negative consequences of these ‘democratic actions’. For example, the state of lawlessness created by US-backed forces on territories controlled by them and the Kurdish ethnic nationalism in fact employed by the SDF as an instruction manual for relations with the Arab majority in the SDF-held areas both contribute to the growth of militancy and create conditions for the resurgence of ISIS cells.
Government-controlled territories and units of the Syrian Army on the western bank of the Euphrates regularly experience the resulting consequences of this situation in the drastic increase of ISIS attacks. On January 3, the Syrian Army and local pro-government militias once again launched a combing operation in the vast desert located between the towns of al-Mayadin and al-Bukamal. The goal of the operation is to track and neutralize ISIS cells there. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that this threat can be fully removed without the establishment of full control of the border by the Damascus government and the elimination of US-occupied ‘No-Go Zones’, which are being extensively used by terrorists.
Turks have an extended front line in northern Syria, they can easily be pierced and reduced to pockets, which can be cleaned up of mercenaries or Turkish forces.
Two axis of approach, 214 north of Aleppo and Al Bab going north, would disjoint Idlib from eastern Syria.
am I missing something?! since when are Russia and Turkey in open conflict?
Maybe it’s time to kick off out of Siria the traitors of Kurds one time for all, that’s gonna allow Turks to back at their own homeland with no excuses despite if they don’t like the idea, they simply can’t win a open fight with Siria and their allies
Russians knows what, how and when to do…
‘traitor Kurds’ should be ‘traitor SDF’, no?
Russia, Hafez and Bashar Al-Assad supported Kurds for years to embarrass Turkey.
“traitor” Turkey would be more appropriate in here: back-stabbing Assad and invading his country is far more worse than the US-deal of the SDF.
Maybe someone should be telling the Turks that to defend their own territory is within their own territory; get out of Syria and take your proxy army with you.
Erdogans patrons and masters going down in flames.
Erdogan claiming he suspects an attack against Al Bab probably just means he wants to attack Tadif in SAA controlled territory, and I think he needs this fictional claim as a justifiable excuse, or I should say BS excuse.
And how do the SF journos sleep at night, this next piece could apply to both the US and Iran, there’s been a lot more anti Iranian agitation in southern Deir ez Zor than anti US protests in northern Deir ez Zor, and the US has been a lot more successful at curbing Isis in their territory, not many SDF are getting killed by Isis but the SDF is arresting and killing heaps of Isis fighters and agents.
But sadly it’s the other way around in southern Deir ez Zor, more SAA are getting killed than SAA in the south, and it all started under the Iranian watch, they’ve controlled southern Deir ez Zor for more than 2 years now and it’s only recently the SAA and Russia have had to intervene, and very sadly they’re not doing so well there either.
“For example, the state of lawlessness created by US-backed forces on territories controlled by them and the Kurdish ethnic nationalism in fact employed by the SDF as an instruction manual for relations with the Arab majority in the SDF-held areas both contribute to the growth of militancy and create conditions for the resurgence of ISIS cells.
Government-controlled territories and units of the Syrian Army on the western bank of the Euphrates regularly experience the resulting consequences of this situation in the drastic increase of ISIS attacks”.
Just change the names and places and the same claims could apply to both the uninvited occupying forces and the warmly welcomed allied forces, but the end result’s still the same. Actually it’s a lot worse in southern Deir ez Zor, the vast majority of the Sunni population there absolutely hate the Iranians and their militias, and they hate them a lot more than their Sunni Arab counterparts in northern Syria hate the Kurds and US, so southern Deir ez Zor is currently the most fertile breeding ground for Isis in Syria.
not many SDF are getting killed by Isis but the SDF is arresting and killing heaps of Isis fighters and agents.
yea it sure worked in vietnam and korea.. and Iraq and dozens of other places like Philippines..
What’s your point, do you disagree with any of my points, are my facts incorrect, or is it just my observations that you don’t like.
as the turk economy decays and their proxies are gifted to the same 70 ex-virgins that 10,000 have been dispatched the CIA funded Kurds will creat more difficulties for turkey
The tone of this article and especially the headline implies that the Russians are the aggressor.
Reality is that the Turks and the terrorists: US proxies are the war criminals.
I agree. The Turks are the aggressors and were happy to watch Syria burn in the beginning. Assad/Russia are the quickest path to peace, especially when proxies have questionable ties to extremists and go to the highest bidder as they are shipped around the world. I would not trust Turkey’s influence in any region, they are picking fights they will soon regret and cannot bite like they bark
Edit: And the USA needs to destroy ISIS or give the oil money to someone willing to fight them
With Biden coming to office, this is a great time for a move against the kurds, and not at all good time to provoke the turks, russians are too smart for that.
Assad can’t permit a move against the Kurds, since the jihadi’s and Turks would invade and grab the rest of Idlib-province in the west of Syria if Assad “should” wage war against them in the east.
And while Kurds are among the bulk of the SDF, the SDF also includes Arabs, Yazidis, Turkmen, Druze, all Syrians born and bred.