An analysis by Kurdish political commentator Zeki Akil argues that Turkey is seeking power in the open conflict of the Syrian war. While the Middle East is being reshaped according to Israel’s interests with the help of Western forces, Turkey’s insistence on war against the Kurdish people is a threat to the Syrian people living in northeastern Syria. Akil previously authored another analysis exploring Turkey’s exploitation of military relation against Kurdish people.
Read the full translation of Zeki Akil’s analysis here:
In Syria, all the relevant forces have begun to move very carefully. Israel is following its own path. It doesn’t spend time thinking about what each state will say, how Syria will be reconstructed, diplomacy or empty speeches. It is moving in the sole direction of its own security. It’s free to move on this issue. Of course, all adjustments on the field are made according to Israel’s interests. The US, Great Britain and all other influential forces accept Israel’s activities. Moreover, they have prepared the plan for the region together.
They pushed Iran out of Syria. Russia suffered a strategic loss. It was said that Russia has influence on the Middle East, it strengthens its own relations with the Arab states. But it is fair to say that Russia has been cut off from the Mediterranean. While Russia was busy on the Ukranian front, it was stripped of its achievements in the Middle East. From now on, Iran will face a greater danger. The takeover of the Trump administration will increase the pressure on it. The room for manoeuvre in the Middle East will be even more restricted. Iran’s loss will not be limited to Syria. Organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah have already been crushed by the strikes. They will occupy Iran with internal problems to such an extent that it won’t be able to harm Israel. Of course, the other Arab states have already normalised their relations with Israel through the Abrams agreement. They will continue in this direction.
Turkey – which, as expected, defended and prepared the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – would now like to have more say in Syria than anyone else. The current situation shows that it has gained an advantage. The important question is how it will use this opportunity? How much will the US and Israel pave the way for Turkey? Until the end, Erdoğan wants to be in balance with the US and Israel. It could even be said that Turkey has ousted Russia. It has inflicted a great defeat on its opponent, Putin! To a certain extent they deserve it. Let them reflect on their actions.
As expected, Turkey proved to be an obstacle for the Autonomous Administration. It is using all its influence and calculations to prevent the Kurds from taking part in this process; or if that doesn’t happen, at least to make the Kurds achieve the minimum. Turkey led the HTS forces towards Damascus and the Syrian National Army (SNA) towards Tel Rifaat and Shahba (Şehba). Their main goal was to empty these areas of Kurdish people. The offensive was not enough, so they sent the mercenaries to Manbij (Minbîc). This was not enough either, so they led the attacks on the Tishreen dam and the Qara Qozaq bridge. Erdoğan wanted to shrink the territory of the Kurdish people and put an end to the autonomous territories. He also wanted to provoke the Arab people in Raqqa and the other regions. He really wanted to realise a plan of chaos. He wanted to create confusion everywhere, to create fronts against the Kurds everywhere and to destroy the Autonomous Administration in this way.
Now he is gathering his forces around Kobani and wants to surround and destroy this town. He wants to destroy the will of the Kurds by attacking this city, which is so rich in meaning for the Kurdish people and the symbol of the resistance against ISIS. But the target is not only Kobani, he wants to completely dismantle the organisation of the Kurds and eliminate their will.
With the meeting in Jordan, the US, Europe and the Arab states have called for an end to the clashes in Syria. At least now it seems that they want to stop the clashes in Syria and pave the way for a solution. Of course, in the current situation there are no other forces fighting except Turkey. Now they want to start a conflict out of the remains of Shah. The tomb had a small symbolic place. Because of the worrying ISIS threat at the time, Erdoğan, supported by the People’s Defence Units (YPG), moved the remains to the Kurdish village of Ashme [near the Qara Qozaq bridge]. Now Turkey wants to bring the remains back. The Autonomous Administration has also stated that there are conditions in the agreement for them to return the tomb to its former location. Turkey wants more land, it wants to build a military barracks and place heavy weapons on it. The US mediated. Because they wanted it, the meeting didn’t bear any fruit.
It’s clear how bad the Turkish intentions are. There is no urgency to move the tomb. It’s been there for years. Even if it stays a little longer, what can happen? If you move it anyway, you have to respect the conditions agreed beforehand. But their ultimate goal is to attack the Qara Qozaq bridge and the surroundings of Kobani. Of course, they have launched heavy attacks on that bridge in the past. Those attacks failed, but they didn’t give up on that objective. For this reason, Kobani and the Qara Qozaq bridge are heavily surrounded and under heavy threat. They are acting in this way so that the Kurds don’t get organised and gain status. What is more, all this is happening at a time when the HTS is saying that “the Kurds are part of Syria and they must get their own rights”, but Turkey continues with its dirty deeds.
What is left for the Turkish propaganda is only the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). “The PKK is hiding in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),” they say. “YPG and PKK are the same, YPG should be liquidated”. Of course, Turkey has added HTS to the terror list, but now they are together. This means that the word ‘terrorist’ is not a legally defined and permanent term. They call anyone who does not serve their interests a terrorist. If it suits them, then there’s no problem. But no state in the world has defined the YPG as a terrorist. The PKK is on the terror list. With this, Turkey comes and says YPG is PKK, PKK is hiding in SDF. That is why it wants to stop the Kurds from joining the ongoing process. They want to annihilate the influence of the Kurdish people with harassment and attacks from the ground and with such propaganda from the political and diplomatic side.
The Kurdish people, their friends and the democratic circles must know that the Autonomous Administration is under heavy siege. Attacks may have already taken place before this writing is published…
Related:
Erdoğan’s motives for intensified attacks in Kurdish-led North and East Syria
Zeki Akil is a Kurdish journalist based in northeast Syria. He collaborates with several Kurdish and Turkish language newspapers and agencies, including Yeni Özgür Politika and Hawar News Agency.
