© AP Photo / Lefteris Pitarakis
Turkey has reached the final stage of preparations for its new military operations in the neighboring Syria, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.
"We are at the last stage of preparations for
increasing the number of regions in Syria, where we have provided stability through 'the Euphrates Shield' and 'the Olive Branch' operations. With God's help, we will liberate new territories in the near future and bring security there," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
The president noted that 250,000 people have returned to the places, where Turkey had held its military operations.
Turkish troops, in cooperation with Syrian opposition groups loyal to Ankara, have participated in a number of military operations in Syria, mostly against Kurdish militants.
In January 2018 Ankara launched on operation in Afrin called
Operation Olive Branch aimed to "clear" Turkey's Syrian border from the terrorist threat. Another operation dubbed
Euphrates Shield was a 2016-2017 cross-border campaign which was, according to Ankara, aimed against terrorists allegedly threatening Turkish security. Damascus has condemned Turkey's military operations, saying they violate the Syrian sovereignty.
Comment: Is Erdogan referring to Manbij (west of the Euphrates, currently held by the U.S./SDF) and perhaps Tell Rif'at, the small area held by the Kurds to the west of that and surrounded by the Turks, Syrian government, and al-Qaeda/rebels. Or maybe Erdogan is planning something for Idlib? As
Moon of Alabama wrote recently:
The only chance Turkey has to escape from U.S. demands is to further ally with Russia. Putin knows that Erdogan needs him. He will play for time to increase the pressure and then make his own demands. Erdogan will have to give up completely on his plans for Syria. All Syrian land Turkey or its proxies hold must be put back under Syrian government control. Only then will the Turkey's trade route to the Gulf states reopen. Only then will Russia (and Iran) help Turkey though its [economic] crises.
On Monday Russia's foreign minister Lavrov will visit Turkey.
Will Erdogan accept the Russian demands or will he flip back to the U.S. side and surrender to Trump and the IMF? Or will he find a different way to escape from this calamity?
It has been Turkey's role to 'separate' the moderate and radical jihadis in the Idlib 'de-escalation zone'. But now the Syrians have begun their campaign to retake the province. Erdogan had his time, and the presence of al-Qaeda means Syria can engage in the operation without violating the de-escalation agreement, which never applied to AQ and ISIS. The only question at this point is what Turkey's response will be. Until now they have had friendly relations with the 'rebels' in Idlib.
Comment: Is Erdogan referring to Manbij (west of the Euphrates, currently held by the U.S./SDF) and perhaps Tell Rif'at, the small area held by the Kurds to the west of that and surrounded by the Turks, Syrian government, and al-Qaeda/rebels. Or maybe Erdogan is planning something for Idlib? As Moon of Alabama wrote recently: It has been Turkey's role to 'separate' the moderate and radical jihadis in the Idlib 'de-escalation zone'. But now the Syrians have begun their campaign to retake the province. Erdogan had his time, and the presence of al-Qaeda means Syria can engage in the operation without violating the de-escalation agreement, which never applied to AQ and ISIS. The only question at this point is what Turkey's response will be. Until now they have had friendly relations with the 'rebels' in Idlib.