''Olive Branch'': Turkish-American Clash in Syria

• 01.25.2018, 14:20
•  Near East,  World

Reuters

On January 22, on the initiative of France, the UN Security Council discussed the development of events in Syria. "Thus, on Monday, France, among other things, emphasized the importance of providing access to humanitarian assistance," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian wrote on Twitter. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that if France or any other country raised the issue of conducting an operation to the UN Security Council, Turkey would regard this as ''standing by the side of terrorists" and not their ally Ankara, Interfax reports.

On January 20, Turkey announced the launch of a military operation, known as the ''Olive Branch'', in the Kurdish-controlled Syrian Afrin region, the goal of which was preventing from creating a "terrorist corridor" in northern Syria, and protecting the southern borders of NATO.

As Turkish Prime Minister Binali Iyldyrym stated, during the operation the Turkish military intend to create a 30-kilometer security zone and destroy all terrorist organizations. He estimated the potential losses of the enemy as 8-10 thousand people, RBK reports.

Ankara already announced the first successes of its next ground operation in Syria: 153 targets were hit in Afrin, and Turkish troops managed to advance 5 km into the territory of Syria.

At the same time it is reported that the Kurdish forces subjected to rocket fire the territory of Turkey. One person was killed and 54 people were injured as a result of rocket attacks on the Turkish cities of Reyhanli and Kilis. Ankara intends to put an end to it in a very short time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, stressing that they are not going to stop.

President Erdogan warned on January 13 that Turkey would launch an operation against the Kurdish forces, after it became known about the plans of the international coalition led by the US to create "border security forces" in Syria in territories controlled by the Kurds. This triggered a stormy reaction from the Turkish side. It was noted that the purpose of the Turkish new operation would be not only Afrin, but Manjige, another enclave controlled by Kurds in the north of Syria.

Although the United States later denied rumors about the establishment of such forces, Ankara intends to close the issue of Syrian Kurds threatening their national security, therefore Washington's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities against the Kurds is unlikely to be heard in Ankara.

As a result, Washington found itself in a very difficult situation: on the one hand, the preservation of its influence in Syria, for which the American side needs the Kurds, and on the other hand, a confrontation with Turkey, a strategic ally in NATO, which also threatens the US interests in the region. It will be difficult for Americans to maintain balance in such a situation, especially since Ankara makes it clear that there will be no more deals concerning the Kurds.

It is worth noting that the military operation in Afrin could be a serious blow to the Syrian peace process, over which there have been very optimistic forecasts lately.