Turkey, called for restraint by Washington and Moscow, struck several targets in Syria on Tuesday after new threats from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to launch a ground operation “soon” against Kurdish fighters in the north of the country.
Mr. Erdogan has been threatening an offensive in northern Syria since May, but the November 13 attack in Istanbul (six dead and 81 injured), attributed by Ankara to Kurdish fighters from the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and the YPG (People’s Protection Units), risks speeding up operations.
“We have been flying over the terrorists for a few days with our aviation and our drones. God willing, we will eliminate them soon with our soldiers, our guns and our tanks,” the head of state said on Tuesday during a speech in the northeast of the country.
The Turkish Air Force on Sunday launched Operation “Sword Claw”, a series of airstrikes against 89 PKK and YPG positions in northern Iraq and Syria, which left nearly 40 people dead. in Syria according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
On Tuesday, new Turkish drone strikes targeted in particular a joint base of Kurdish forces and the international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States, 25 km north of the city of Hassaké, killing two people according to Kurdish forces and the OSDH.
The US military command for the Middle East (CENTCOM) told AFP that its forces “were not in danger” during these strikes.
Other bombings targeted an oil field near the town of al-Qahtaniyah, close to the Turkish border, according to an AFP correspondent, and an area 70 km south of the Turkish-Syrian border, according to the Kurdish forces.
” De-escalation “
“They wanted to establish a terrorist state around us, we couldn’t allow it. Protecting our borders and our nation is our responsibility and our duty,” Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Tuesday receiving his German counterpart Nancy Faeser in Ankara.
“We will make those who disturb us on our territory pay,” the Turkish president warned on Monday, threatening a ground operation.
Mr. Erdogan’s statements – published shortly after rocket attacks from Syria that left two people dead, including a child, in the Turkish border town of Karkamis – have aroused concern in Washington and Moscow.
Both countries are embroiled in the war in Syria, which has claimed nearly half a million lives since 2011.
“We call for de-escalation in Syria to protect civilians and support the common goal of defeating Islamic State,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.
The United States supported the YPG, Syria’s main Kurdish force, in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadists, allowing them to regain control of Kobani in 2015.
John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, acknowledged that Turkey, which continues to be exposed to a “terrorist threat”, had every “right to defend itself and its citizens”.
However, he added, these “cross-border operations (…) could lead to a reaction from some of our partners in the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces, of which the YPG is a part, editor’s note) which would limit their ability to continue the fight against Islamic State,” and that is what worries the United States, he warned.
“We want to be able to keep the pressure on the Islamic State. This network is greatly diminished, but it is still viable as a threat. And therefore we want our SDF partners to continue to keep up the pressure” on the Islamic State, Kirby explained.
“Risk of destabilization”
Russia “hoped” that Turkey would show “restraint” and refrain from “any excessive use of force” in Syria.
“We understand Turkey’s concerns […] But at the same time, we call on all parties to refrain from any initiative that could lead to serious destabilization,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
On Monday, Berlin and Paris had also called on Ankara, respectively, to act in a “proportionate” way and to “show more restraint”.
In response, Turkey demanded on Tuesday that its allies, led by the United States, “cease all support” to YPG fighters whom it considers terrorists.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by the YPG, said on Tuesday that they were concentrating their efforts on “de-escalation”.
Between 2016 and 2019, Turkey carried out three major operations in northern Syria against Kurdish militias and organizations.
Ankara repeats wanting to create a 30 km wide “security zone” along its southern border.
“The conditions are met for a particularly vigorous offensive against the PKK / YPG, with the approach of the presidential and legislative elections” of June 2023, estimated the independent analyst Anthony Skinner, who recalls that President Erdogan has already played the ” security card” in the run-up to previous elections.