RTTue, 15 Oct 2019 16:40 UTC
© Reuters / SANA / HandoutA Syrian army soldier in the town of Tel Tamer in northeast Syria, October 14, 2019
The Syrian Arab Army has entered the northeastern city of Manbij, state media has reported. The deployment comes amid the ongoing Turkish operation against the Kurdish-led militias, which control several towns in the border area.
State news agency SANA broke the news on Monday, confirming the earlier sightings of the Syrian troops in the area, first spotted overnight.
The confirmation comes a few hours after Turkey signaled that its military and affiliated Syrian "opposition" militants have sought to enter the city after the withdrawal of the Kurdish-led militias."We are about to implement our decision on Manbij," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Monday. "When Manbij is evacuated,
we will not go in there as Turkey. Our Arab brothers, who are the real owners, the tribes ... will return there. Our approach is to ensure their return and security there."
The map of control in Syria is once again going through rapid changes after Turkey began an invasion of the northeast border areas, dubbed 'Operation Peace Spring.' The offensive targets Kurdish-led militias that Ankara considers to be terrorists. This includes the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group, that has been the key US ally in its fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists.
Turkey's operation kicked off days after the decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw American servicemen embedded with the Kurdish forces, in a move that has been condemned by his critics as a "betrayal" of the Syrian Kurds. Trump said the move was needed to "end the endless war."
As the Turkish-backed operation gained momentum, Trump authorized a withdrawal of US troops from the region so they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. At the same time, the Syrian Army made a move towards the northern border - which the US troops blocked it from reaching for years - in order to support Kurdish-led forces against what it called "Turkish aggression."
It appears that Syrian troops are trying to fill in the vacuum left by the US forces as quickly as they leave. On Monday, RT's video agency Ruptly filmed Syrian units advancing towards the Kurdish-held border town of Kobani - and meeting US troops on their way out.
Comment: In addition to Manbij, a number of settlements in Aleppo have announced the
restoration of Syrian sovereignty, according to the Russian military:
"The self-proclaimed Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, having not received support from the United States and other Western countries, was unable to take any effective measures to protect the population and resolve humanitarian problems," Maj. Gen. Alexey Bakin, the head of the Russian centre for Syrian reconciliation said at a daily briefing.
"As a result, the self-governing authorities of the settlements in the Manbij district of Aleppo province, Tabka district of Raqqa province, Qamishli and Hasakah districts of Hasakah province announced the full restoration of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic on their territory," he added.
The general also said that in other settlements in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces, representatives of several tribal unions had held demonstrations against the foreign aggression and terrorism, and sent appeals to the Russian reconciliation centre to assist them in restoring the legitimate authority of Syria.
The U.S. imposed
sanctions against 3 Turkish ministers (including the defense minister). Notably, in his tweet about the sanctions, Trump announced that U.S. troops will be pulling out of the entire northeast of Syria to be redployed elsewhere. Only "a small footprint of United States forces will remain at At Tanf Garrison in southern Syria to continue to disrupt remnants of ISIS."
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is pressing NATO allies to
sanction Turkey:
Blaming Turkey for "undermining the successful multinational 'Defeat ISIS' mission in Syria," US Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced a "deliberate withdrawal" of US forces from northeast Syria. "I will be visiting NATO next week in Brussels, where I plan to press our other NATO allies to take collective and individual diplomatic and economic measures in response to these egregious Turkish actions."
"President Erdogan bears full responsibility" for "a potential ISIS resurgence, possible war crimes, and a growing humanitarian crisis," Esper warned, pinning the responsibility for "widespread casualties, refugees, destruction, insecurity, and a growing threat to US military forces" exclusively on Turkey.
Trump talked on the phone with Erdogan, urging a ceasefire, and Pence is
planning to head to Turkey with NatSec Adviser O'Brien for negotiations. The UK has
halted exports of arms to Turkey that "might be used in military operations". For his part, Erdogan plans on
returning 3 million Syrian refugees to the region after Turkey 'secures' it. Russia has vowed to
prevent clashes between the Syrian and Turkish armies. Russian troops are currently patrolling the areas the Syrian army entered in the last day or so.
Vice president of the Kurdish National Council in Syria
Abdul Hakim Bashar:
"The handover of Kobani and Manbij is not the decision of the SDF, but rather it will be in accordance with consensus between the regional and international parties. The Russian Federation will have the crucial role in these arrangements", Bashar said.
He called the developments "the complete surrender of the SDF" to the Syrian army as a way to protect itself from the Turkish incursion.
"The Kurds will not move voluntarily out of their historical presence unless they are forced", he added.
Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu:
"Sanctions against Turkey will achieve nothing. It is necessary to observe promises given to Turkey. We began the operation in the north of Syria because the US failed to observe its commitments," Cavusoglu said at an international conference on media freedom in Azerbaijan.
For previous updates, see:
Still, this is quite JFKish, regarding Trump's foreign policy! Even more so, that he is still around to implement them!