The US is employing active efforts to ease tensions between its proxies from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF).
According to Head of the SDF Press Center Mustefa Bali, the US-led coalition is going to kick off patrols along the Turkish border in the areas controlled by the SDF. Local sources say that these patrols, which are obviously aimed at preventing further Turkish strikes on SDF targets, will be focused in the area of Ayn al-Arab (also known as Kobani) where clashes between the SDF and the TAF have recently erupted.
بدءا من صباح اليوم سينظم التحالف الدولي دوريات مراقبة على الحدود بين شمال سوريا و تركيا لتخفيف حدة التوتر و ايقاف الاعتداءات التركية
— Mustefa Bali (@mustefa2bali) November 2, 2018
A new video also appeared from the area showing a new group of US troops and vehicles, which has arrived there.
Shervan Derwish, a spokesman for the Manbij Military Council, another body linked to the SDF, also stated that the recent joint patrols of the TAF and the US-led coalition near Manbij came “in the cntext of understanding and consultation with the Manbij Military Council”.
Joint patrols by the International Coalition with the Turkish side in Manbij come in the context of understanding and consultation with the Manbaj Military Council.
Our joint efforts with the International Alliance have achieved security and stability.— Shervan Derwish (@shervanderwish) November 1, 2018
The only problem with the statement of Derwish is that Turkey has officially declared that Manbij is currently controlled by the terrorists and it is going to eliminate them. Kurdish armed groups, mostly the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), are the core of the SDF and publicly dominate in its military and political command struture. Members of Kurdish aremd groups are also a major part of the “SDF members”.
According to Turkish experts, the SDF brand itself was created in order to hide US support to the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria. The PKK is a separatist armed group seeking to establish an independent state within Turkish territory. It has deep links to the YPG and is a designated terrorist group in multiple states, including Turkey and the US.
