JERUSALEM — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could be on the brink of engulfing Syria in a new war with his slated invasion of the country’s north in an effort to decimate the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds who helped President-elect Trump defeat the Islamic State in 2019.
The White House-brokered cease-fire between Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been largely ignored by pro-Turkey forces and Erdoğan, according to Fox News information from northern Syria. The SDF, which lost 12,000 fighters in its campaign to aid the U.S. in the victory over the Islamic State, is faced with an existential crisis.
An SDF source in northern Syria told Fox News Digital that the Syrian Opposition and the Syrian National Army, both of whom are aligned with Erdoğan’s government, “are building up around Kobani from the east and west directions. Assaults on the Tishreen Dam are still taking place intermittently. SDF confront them and push them back continuously. Additionally, the Kobani frontlines are subjected constantly to Turkish armed drones and artillery targeting. No support from any nation. Just the U.S. helping with mediation between us and the Turks aims to have a permanent cease-fire.”
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According to the SDF source, “The main attackers are called SNA, which constitute the Al Hamza division and Sultan Suliman Shah division, who are loyal to the Turkish MHP party leader Dewlet Bahçelî.” Erdoğan is aligned with the extremist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Simone Ledeen, a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, told Fox News Digital, “The U.S. must reinforce support for the SDF — using all available tools to ensure they remain capable on the ground — while addressing the reality that Turkey, our NATO ally, is enabling a rapidly expanding jihadist threat.”
When approached by Fox News Digital, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, “Syria is in a fragile state right now. We don’t want to see any party take an action to pursue their own unilateral interests over the broader interests of the Syrian people. We continue to talk to the Government of Türkiye and others in the region about a path forward that de-escalates tensions, not one that escalates them. This is a time to increase stability, not to further devolve into fighting.”
The spokesperson added, “Our focus is on promoting a Syrian-led political process in the spirit of U.N. Security Council resolution 2254, while ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS. Given that we know ISIS exploits instability, it’s incumbent on all countries with influence on the ground — including Türkiye — to promote stability, dialogue, and restraint. The United States supports Syria’s territorial integrity.”
The Biden administration’s alleged failure to rope in Erdoğan aggression could mean the escape of 10,000 Islamic State terrorists held in SDF-run prisons. The SDF has had to redeploy its forces to counter Turkey’s campaign to depopulate northern Syria of SDF fighters. The reemergence of the Islamic State in Syria could adversely affect American security, argue counter-terrorism experts.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., declared repeatedly in an address to Erdoğan in Congress, “Leave the Kurds alone.” He added, “The Kurds are America’s friends… The people most responsible for helping us, most responsible for destroying ISIS, were the Kurds.”
Kennedy warned Erdoğan, “If you invade Syria and touch a hair on the head of the Kurds, I’m going to ask this United States Congress to do something,” noting, “Our sanctions are not going to help the economy of Turkey.”
Turkey’s economy is wobbly, and potent U.S. economic sanctions could destabilize Erdoğan’s government.
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When asked about the reports of Turkish-aligned forces attacking Syrian Kurds, a spokesman for Turkey’s Foreign Ministry told Fox News Digital, “The mentioned reports are groundless. Türkiye never had a problem with the Syrian Kurds — to the contrary, embraced them and supported them to become part of a unified Syria. The clear distinction should be made between the Syrian Kurds and the ones associated with the terrorist organizations.”
The spokesman added, “The continued dedication and sacrifices of Türkiye in the fight against Daesh (ISIS) should not be overlooked. At the end of the day, Türkiye remains as the most credible and capable actor in the region in the fight against Daesh.”
Turkey’s government uses Daesh, the transliteration of the Arabic acronym Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), to designate the Sunni Jihadi terrorist movement.
When confronted with the SDF statement that the U.S.-led mediation efforts collapsed because Turkey failed to accept key points, “including the transfer of remaining Manbij Military Council fighters and civilians wishing to move to safer areas within north and eastern Syria, as well as the resolution of the issue concerning the transfer of Suleiman Shah’s remains to their former location,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “It is not Türkiye escalating the situation on the ground, it is the determination of Syrian people to act against the terrorist organization.”
He added, “The Syrian people, empowered by the confidence gained from overthrowing the Ba’ath regime, are striving to expel the PKK/YPG/’SDF’ terrorist organization, which has long occupied their territories and subjected them to violence and oppression. They have successfully removed the organization from Manbij and Deir ez-Zor, and are on the verge of doing so in Raqqa. At the end of the day, this is merely the reflection of the will of the Syrian people.”
PKK is an abbreviation for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an organization classified by the U.S. and the EU as a terrorist entity. The U.S. has a long-standing military alliance with the Syrian Kurdish military organization, The People’s Defense Units (YPG), in Syria. The YPG is part of a broader organization known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and played a key role in dismantling the Islamic State in Syria.
In a growing act of bi-partisan congressional support for the Syrian Kurds, lawmakers are sending messages to the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration.
On Wednesday, Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., threatened to impose sanctions on Erdoğan. The senators wrote in a joint statement, “While Turkey has some legitimate security concerns that can be addressed, these developments are undermining regional security, and the United States cannot sit idly by.”
“In the wake of the Assad regime’s fall, Turkish-backed forces have ramped up attacks against our Syrian Kurdish partners, once again threatening the vital mission of preventing the resurgence of ISIS,” they said.
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Several requests for comment from Fox News Digital to President-elect Trump’s spokespeople and his incoming National Security Council adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., were not immediately returned.
Shukriya Bradost, an expert on the Kurds, who was born and raised in the Kurdistan region of Iran, told Fox News Digital, “Turkey’s most pragmatic option is to engage in dialogue with the Kurdish administration in Syria, facilitated by the United States. A cooperative relationship could serve both Turkish and Kurdish interests, stabilizing the region while addressing Turkey’s security concerns and the experience that Turkey already has with the Kurdistan Region of Government in Iraq (KRG).”
She added, “Turkey has already shown that it can cooperate with a Kurdish administration in Syria. In the past, oil from northern Syria flowed through KRG into Turkey, demonstrating the potential for economic and political collaboration. This precedent proves that mutual interests can override historical hostilities.”
Bradost recommended that Washington “broker a historic agreement that addresses Turkey’s security concerns without dismantling Kurdish autonomy in Syria. Much like the Abraham Accords brought unprecedented diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East, a U.S.-facilitated deal between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds could offer a transformative path forward.”
On Friday, the State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, met with representatives of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus. HTS and its Islamist allies ousted the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad less than two weeks ago.
Leaf told reporters after the meeting that there is a cease-fire around Manbij and there are concerns about “the effects of fighting near the Tishreen Dam and damage to that dam, especially if it were significant structural damage.” She added the U.S. is working with Turkish authorities and the SDF for a cease-fire around Kobani.
