The United States Department of Defence said in its latest report on ongoing operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq (Operation Inherent Resolve) that Turkey’s cross-border attacks in Syrian soil and occupied areas have resulted in the ‘restriction of the movements of Coalition forces, distracted partner forces, limited humanitarian access, and put civilians at risk.’
The report to the United Congress, covering the first quarter of 2022, said, referring to information provided by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA):
“Turkey does not differentiate between the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces, the major armed force of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)] and Kurdish members of the SDF from People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey views as a terrorist organisation that routinely attacks Turkish-supported forces. The DIA, citing media reporting, said that Turkish forces continued to conduct attacks during the quarter using explosive-laden vehicles and other explosive devices against YPG personnel, at times causing civilian casualties.”
The report also underlined human rights abuses by armed groups affiliated to the Turkish military in Syria, and noted that such abuses distracted SDF from its mission against ISIS, enabling the latter to continue with its operations as SDF focused on protecting Kurdish populations:
“The DoS [US Department of State] described reports that Turkish-supported forces committed human rights abuses in northeastern Syria, including abuses relating to kidnapping, torture, rape, and deprivation of property of minority populations residing in these areas, particularly Kurds. These abuses ‘complicate the OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] mission by distracting the focus’ of the SDF from its defeat ISIS mission, the DoS reported. The abuses also position ISIS to retain and recruit members while the SDF is focused on protecting Kurdish populations, the DoS said.”
‘Instability’ and ‘division’ caused by Turkish attacks in KRI
On the Turkish incursions into Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the report drew attention both to the ‘instability’ caused by these incursions, and to a subsequent ‘division within Kurds’:
“The ongoing conflict between Turkey and the PKK [Workers’ Party of Kurdistan,] contributes to instability in northern Iraq. It divides Iraq’s Kurds: the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which is the largest party in the KRG, maintains close ties to Turkey and is at odds with the PKK. Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani, a leader of the KDP, met with Turkish President Erdogan on at least two occasions, once immediately after an early-February Turkish strike on a military target near the Makhmur refugee camp in Ninewa province and again in mid-March, the day before the Iranian missile strike on Erbil. The KDP’s rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party has historically had closer ties with Iran and displayed a level of sympathy for the PKK. In recent years, the PKK has forged close relations with some of the Iran-aligned militias that belong to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces.”
Turkey targeting Sinjar
The report also underlined that Turkey’s target in Iraq was no longer restricted to the PKK bases in Qandil Mountains, but included also the Mahkmour area, and Yazidi homeland Sinjar (Shengal), some 100 km away from the Turkish border.
“While Turkish strikes have historically targeted the Qandil mountains in northeastern Iraq, where the PKK has its stronghold, they have increasingly targeted the Makhmur mountains further west, as well as Sinjar, part of the Kurdish Coordination line, a swath of territory near the KRG that is home to Iraq’s Yazidi population. Sinjar has historically been under the control of the KDP, but since 2017, the KDP has dominated only the eastern half of Sinjar, while the PKK has established a presence in Sinjar’s west with the help of a Yazidi militia known as the Sinjar Resistance Units that maintains close ties to Iran-aligned militias.”
It continued:
“Turkey, seeing the Sinjar Resistance Units as a proxy for the PKK, has attacked it (as well as PMF* militias). A DoS cable reported that social media, as reported in a DoS cable, said in early March, that the head of the Popular Mobilization Commission, Falih al-Fayyadh, paid a ‘discreet visit’ to Turkey related to the Turkish military’s targets in Sinjar.”
* Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organisation composed mostly of Shia Muslim groups, but also include Sunni Muslim, Christian, and Yazidi groups
