''Euphrates Shield'': Against Whom?

• 08.29.2016, 17:53
•  America,  Region,  Near East,  World

On August 24 Turkish army backed by international coalition air strikes launched an operation ''Euphrates Shield'' which according to the Turkish military′s official statement, is a cross-border battle in the Syrian border town of Jarabulus between the Islamic State, as well as the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Free Syrian Army.

The operation has two purposes: to withdraw Isis from Jarablus, its last major fortification on the 500-mile border, and to refrain the expansion of Kurdish militias in northern Syria.

"At 4am on Wednesday, operations started in the north of Syria against terror groups which constantly threaten our country," Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, adding that the operation would target both Isis and Kurdish militants, the Guardian reports.

This is the first co-ordinated operation between Turkey and the U.S.-led coalition into Syria.

According to military sources, Turkish special forces entered Jarablus by land along with aerial support from Turkish F-16 jets. 

Turkish forces also used intense artillery fire as well as tanks in cross-border attacks against Daesh elements in Jarablus.

Later in the day, tanks crossed the border into Syria and resumed their operation inside Syrian territory.

Some 70 targets were destroyed only by the artillery fire and tanks which were stationed on Turkish soil, Daily Sabah reports.

"Our main goal is to clear Jarabulus of the Daesh terrorist group militants. The second goal is to prevent Syrian Kurds from taking control of the area after Daesh clear-out. Jarabulus is an important point in both a short and long-term perspective. We have to defend our borders by ourselves as Syria does not have an effective government. And we are within our right to stay in the area until the Free Syrian Army regains control over the situation there," Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said, Farsnews reports.

It should be noted that the operation is not an effort to clean the Islamic State from Jarabulus, as the city has been under Islamic State control since January 2014, and Ankara has never intervened when smuggling of militants and materials to the Islamic State went on from the border. But the main purpose is a recent Kurdish victory against the Islamic State in a strategic town, Manbij, which is along the Turkish border. Turkey considers the YPG's expansion along the Turkish border as a major security threat for its country, as the Kurds control three unconnected provinces in northern Syria along the Turkish border, which they may unite by crossing the Euphrates River.  

As BBC reports, later on August 24, US Vice President Joe Biden said that members of the Syrian Democratic Forces had to return to the east of the River Euphrates if they wanted to continue receiving its help.

Kurdish forces, however, have refused to withdraw from areas west of the Euphrates River, Redur Xelil, spokesperson for the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) said, adding that Turkey cannot impose its agenda on the Kurds in northern Syria.

"The Turkish intervention in Jarablus is a hostile intervention. Its main goal, more than ISIS, is the Kurds," said Redur Xelil, Rudaw reports. 

However, US Secretary of State John Kerry held a telephone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the morning of August 25 and informed that the PYD/YPG forces have been withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates, Hurriyet reports.

But after the statement, Turkish forces opened fire on YPG militants from 6:00 pm by local time after intelligence showed they were advancing despite a promise by the U.S. that the Kurdish militia would retreat.

Besides, as a Kurdish source told Sputnik, Syrian opposition groups allied with Turkey and supported by Ankara's forces, on Sunday drove Kurdish fighters from three settlements near the northern Syrian town of Jarabulus (Balaban, Amarna and Dabas) during which the number of casualties surpassed 40 people.

According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Syrian Kurdish forces will become a target for Turkish forces in northern Syria if they ''entirely'' don't move east of Euphrates.

But it should be noted that under the word ''Kurdish forces'' Turkish authorities mean also the civilians, as Turkey have begun to attack Syrian Kurdish villages as well…