Turkey’s attack on Syria to help revive proxy Islamic State, says Kurds
05 Nov 2019
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Notwithstanding the death of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the bloodbath in Syria is unlikely to end thanks to the marginalisation of the Kurdish forces that have been putting up stiff resistance to the tyrannical IS.
These Kurdish-led forces have not only resisted IS but created a new form of nonsectarian democracy across northern Syria known as Rojava, Over the past two years its territory has been radically reduced, including thanks to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) they lead..
The Turkish invasion has again endangered the Rojaya region despite al-Baghdadi’s death.
The Turkish invasion has forced as many as 300,000 civilians to flee their homes, and the Turkish-led forces are continuing their attacks even beyond a nineteen-mile buffer zone negotiated with Russia, from which SDF fighters have withdrawn.
At the same time, the invasion by Turkish and jihadist forces has also allowed the release of IS prisoners, who are now reestablishing their presence in the region.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is reported to have said that both the Syrian and Russian forces cannot be relied upon even as he decided to follow "a political path" for the sake of peace.
Mazlum Abdi, also known as Kobani, told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper that future negotiations required guarantees from the international community, including Europe.
"We have no confidence, but it's not possible to solve Syria's problems without using the political path. We must negotiate," he said.
Until the United States pulled out of Syria the SDF, whose members are for the most part Kurds, enjoyed the support of a Washington-led coalition in its fight against the Islamic State group.
While Russia was acting as an intermediary between his group and the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Abdi said his group will not be party to an agreement that does not protect the Kurds and their political, administrative and cultural liberty.
He blamed the US decision to pull out of Syria, which gave the green light for the Turkish attack on Kurds, which was a blatant violation of agreements between his group and Washington.
Attacks by the Turkish army, the second-largest NATO army in the world, in Serê Kaniyê were particularly violent, but Kurdish forces defended the city for more than ten days.
The attackers included tens of thousands of jihadist mercenaries on the payroll of the Turkish army. These mercenaries keep killing civilians every day and dozens of deaths are reported in the area, as it is subject to targeted bombing by the Turkish forces.
Currently, up to 300,000 people are fleeing. About 300–500 civilians have been killed so far.
Turkey’s support for the IS goes back very far indeed. Not just since we saw recently Turkish air bombers attack prisons and liberate IS soldiers, but even in the fight over Kobanê in 2015. The IS was simply a proxy, which fought for Turkish interests in northern Syria.
