Kurds

Turkey Readies For “Aggression” From US-Backed SDF in Raqqa

The US-backed coalition of Kurds and Arabs of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have begun their long-awaited assault on the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Raqqa. The forecast for the battle has it that it will be long and costly as the IS fighters are cut off from any support.

But the government of Turkey released an ominous warning that they’ll be watching the SDF for any aggression to their own interests. Turkey considers the Kurds terrorists in their country which makes the entire alliance against the IS on shaky ground.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Binali Yildrim said Turkey would act immediately should any perceived threats arise from the Syrian Democratic Forces’ operations to recapture the city of Raqqa from the so-called “Islamic State” (IS).
Yildrim made his remarks in Ankara to deputies from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Law and Justice Party on the same day that the SDF launched an attack on the IS stronghold from the east, north and west.
Yildrim said Turkey was taking precautions in case its interests were threatened
The SDF, a roughly 50,000-member alliance backed by the United States, largely consists of Arabs and fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia formed in 2011 that Turkish officials consider a terrorist organization. The Turkish government has been facing a Kurdish insurgency, primarily from the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), in areas of southeast Turkey since 1984. Officials in Ankara have expressed concern that a YPG takeover of Raqqa, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Turkey’s border, could embolden Kurds in their fight for autonomy.
But the United States views the SDF as key partners in the fight against IS in Syria and has provided the alliance with air support, training and weapons.
The United States also began arming the YPG directly to help them battle the approximately 3,000-4,000 IS fighters believed to still be in Raqqa.
IS seized Raqqa in 2014 and made the city the Syrian capital of the group’s self-declared caliphate – the counterpart to the group’s besieged former stronghold of Mosul in Iraq. The SDF’s launch of its operation to retake Raqqa on Tuesday comes after months of violent back-and-forth fighting aimed at eventually expelling the militants from the city.
Read: Civilian casualties surge as anti-IS coalition moves towards Raqqa
Using a common Arabic acronym for IS, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said late Monday that the battle to retake Raqqa would be “fierce because Daesh will die to defend their so-called capital.”
But “morale is high and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete, in coordination with the US-led coalition,” Silo added.
The offensive would be “long and difficult,” but that retaking the city would be a “decisive blow to the idea of ISIS as a physical caliphate,” said Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commanding US military leader, using a common English-language acronym for IS, Reuters reported.

Fighting has begun at the eastern and northern edges of the town and officials believe that it will take several weeks to clear the IS fighters. Clearing the town’s narrow streets will prove difficult and the IS fighters have forced the civilian men in the town to wear the traditional garb that they favor, something that will make it difficult to differentiate between IS fighters and civilians.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welles, click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

Turkey Threatens Military Action against U.S.-allied Kurds

The government of Turkey in response to the news that the Trump Administration is going to arm the Syrian Kurds with heavy weapons has threatened to take military action against them.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke to the media on Wednesday and said that the US and Turkey were having open discussions but was confident that the two sides would work things out.

Mattis also vowed that the US would help Turkey defend its southern border stating that it is “Europe’s southern border” as well.

“Turkey’s message to the Trump administration was that Turkey reserves the right to take military action,” said a senior Turkish official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Turkey has already conducted limited strikes against the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in recent weeks, but it could increase the tempo of those strikes, Turkish officials said. American officials have complained bitterly to Turkey, a NATO ally, about the airstrikes, which have targeted the principal U.S. partner in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State.
Any further military action could also potentially complicate the offensive on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s symbolic capital and its last major stronghold after the Iraqi city of Mosul, which is besieged by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. U.S. officials are concerned that Turkey could send forces into northern Syria and draw the Kurdish fighters away from the Raqqa battle.
Turkey views the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, as an existential threat. The YPG, which dominates a U.S.-supported force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
In a news conference Wednesday, Erdogan said that Turkey’s “patience has ended” and that he hoped the United States would reverse its decision.
“We want to know that our allies will stand not with a terrorist organization but with us,” he said.

This puts the planned assault on the ISIS-held city of Raqqa in jeopardy. The US feels that the YPG group of Kurds is the best available unit to launch the attack.

In an attempt to allay Turkish fears, a Defense Department spokesman on Wednesday at the Pentagon said that any material given to the Syrian Kurds would be carefully monitored to “make sure that it’s being used for exactly the purpose that we intend.”

To read the entire article from the Washington Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

US to Arm the Kurds with Heavier Weapons, Against Wishes of Turkey

The United States is going to provide the Kurd forces in Syria with heavier weapons as they prepare to attack the key Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The Trump Administration’s decision is not being met with much happiness in Turkey as the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan views the Syrian Kurdish group also known as the YPG is an extension of Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey.

The U.S. sees the Kurds as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria.
After lengthy deliberations, the administration approved plans to provide additional weaponry to the Kurds. A full list wasn’t immediately available, but officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities. They said the U.S. would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.
The U.S. officials who disclosed the Trump administration decision weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity. They described no firm timeline, with the American intention to provide the new weapons to the Syrian Kurds as soon as possible.
Senior U.S. officials including Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara. The Turks have insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but U.S. officials insisted there was no real alternative.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit President Donald Trump in Washington next week. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, met on Tuesday with Thomas Shannon, the State Department No. 2 official.

Back in April, the Turks launched an airstrike on the Kurds’ bases in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish military said it killed at least 90 militants and wounded many others. The Kurds released a statement saying that 20 of its fighters and media activists were killed in the strike, which was followed by cross-border clashes.

US military officials feel, and rightfully so, that this won’t help the cause of moving the ISIS group out of Raqqa.

To read the entire article from the Business Insider click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

Conventional Troops Adding to Special Operations Forces in Syria

The US has augmented the already 500 Special Operations forces in Syria with 400 conventional troops. Reports were filtering down that a Marine Corps artillery unit and an Army Stryker unit have been sent to Syria in advance of the anticipated battle to free the major town of Raqqa.

Army General Joseph Votel, Commander of the US Central Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the need for more conventional troops may increase for later stability operations.

Sen. John McCain R – Arizona pushed Votel on questions that the US support for the Syrian Kurds, who the Turks consider terrorists could be a flashpoint in the upcoming battle where the different factions are working so closely together to remove ISIS.

What the Trump administration has done so far pretty much goes by the Obama administration’s playbook. I mean, their idea was the local provide the fighters, we provide the firepower, and that’s how we grab back territory from ISIS.
But the big question is, who are going to be the fighters who seize the town? And the most capable forces that the American military has found in the region is this YPG Kurdish militia. They’re the ones that have the most experience fighting. They’re the ones that played the key role in taking back Manbij.
They’re the force that the American military is counting on to be a component, not the majority of the force, that takes Raqqa, but a key component of the assault force.
The problem is, Turkey considers them to be terrorists, and they have sort of drawn a red line at arming the YPG. But, unless we arm the YPG, they’re in no position to help out in the Raqqa assault. And that’s pretty much where things stand at this point.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has given President Trump the Defense Dept. plans on defeating ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. Trump pledged to swiftly eradicate ISIS from both countries. Troop strength in Syria was capped by former President Obama in an attempt to keep the US from escalating into another conflict after the last eight-plus years in Iraq.

To read the PBS News entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of DOD