[The conduct of the Turkish regime led by the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while the Kurds in Syria were valiantly fighting against the invading ISIS in the town of Kobani / Kobane with their backs to the wall in the very recent past leaves no room whatever for any doubt that the regime has no interest to take on the ISIS; it is rather very much interested in seeing the Kurdish resistance destroyed, by the ISIS or whoever. The regime tried to put all sorts of obstacles in the way of any international help to aid the fighting Kurds. It's just too recent.
The Turkish plan to invade Syria now is to be therefore understood in the context of the ongoing military success of the Kurds against the ISIS. This is an evil move, must be resisted.] I/III. Reproduced below is the Democratic Union Party (PYD) statement on Turkish threats to militarily intervene in Rojava. Statement to regional and global public opinion In recent days we have seen threats issued by Turkish officials regarding the possibility to create a military buffer zone in northern Syria. We would like to make some points clear to our people and the international public opinion. · We are a democratically elected party, working inside the Democratic Self Administration of Rojava, and we strive to respect and maintain the internationally recognized borders. We are furthermore determined to establish friendly relations with our neighbors. · We reiterate that we do not seek to establish an independent state, as is falsely claimed by Mr. Erdogan. We work to consolidate our democratic project and we advocate it as a model for the whole of Syria. Syria needs to establish a political system based on democratic pluralism. We are a part of Syria and external forces have no right to intervene in our internal affairs. · We in the democratic union party PYD, and our partners in the Democratic Self Administration of Rojava, do not want to stir up unrest with our neighbors. We only demand that our neighbors adhere to the principle of non-interference and that we together can work to establish cordial relations based on mutual respect, as stipulated in the UN charter. · We are currently cooperating with the coalition in the fight against terrorism, just as our allies are cooperating with the Turkish state in the fight against terrorism. Any attack on the people¹s protection units, YPG and its allies would only play into the hands of the terrorists. · A military intervention in Rojava would have grave repercussions locally, regionally and internationally, it would threaten peace and security, and finally it would add to the complexity of the already dire situation in Syria and the broader Middle East. We call upon the major powers in NATO, especially the United States and France to prevent any Turkish intervention in Rojava, which is a part of the Syrian territory. · The people¹s protection units, YPG, has fought bravely against the criminal regime forces and other terrorist gangs, most notably ISIS, and has made great sacrifices. The YPG is determined to protect its people and its land at any cost. All we seek is to establish a democratic system, within the framework of the unity of the Syrian territory, guarantee the rights of all Syrians irrespective of religion of ethnicity, and to establish cordial relations with our neighbors. We are an active partner in the international coalition and the fight against global terrorism. Proceeding from the above, we call on officials in the Turkish republic to refrain from provocative and reckless policies. We also appeal to the great powers to intervene in order to prevent any Turkish intervention in Rojava. We also renew our commitment to international treaties and conventions, and we call on the Turkish government to respect international law, and to refrain from provocative operations, including repeated threats of direct military intervention. The co-chairmanship of the Democratic Union Party II/III. http://indianexpress.com/article/world/middle-east-africa/kurdish-victory-in-syria-worries-turkish-government/99/ Kurdish victory in Syria worries Turkish government Turkey mulls military intervention to push back IS and block Kurdish attempt to create a state along Turkish border risking conflict with Kurdish separatists. >From the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, Turkish soldiers run to their new positions next to the border fence in Akcakale, southeastern Turkey. (Source: AP) By: Associated Press | Ankara | Published on:June 30, 2015 12:41 pm ***As Kurdish rebels in northern Syria rack up wins against the Islamic State group, Turkish media is abuzz with talk of a long-debated military intervention to push the Islamic militants back from the Turkish border — a move that will also outflank any Kurdish attempts to create a state along Turkey’s southern frontier.*** [Emphasis added.] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired a National Security Council meeting on Monday which covered developments in Syria and pro-government newspapers were rife with purported proposals, ranging from loosening the rules of engagement to give Turkish troops a freer hand to fire into Syria, to a tanks-and-troops invasion aimed at occupying a 110-kilometer (70-mile) long, 33-kilometer (20-mile) wide buffer zone. RELATED Thousands Flee As Syrian Kurds March To IS Controlled Border Town Turkish Military Enters Syria To Evacuate Troops, Tomb Islamic State Seizes Large Areas Of Syrian Town Despite Air Strikes The burst of tough talk has analysts “scratching their heads about what to make of all of this,” Aaron Stein, an associate fellow at the London-based RUSI think tank, said in a Twitter message. In a telephone interview, Stein said the new talk of action was due in part to dramatic Kurdish gains in Syria, where rebels have scored a series of victories against IS, most notably in the border town of Tal Abyad. That key transit point is not far from the IS’s Syrian power base of Raqqa. The capture of Tal Abyad opened ways for Kurds to connect their stronghold in Syria’s northeast to the once-badly isolated border town of Kobani — which famously resisted a months-long Islamic State siege — and perhaps even the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in Syria’s northwest. Turkish officials fear the creation of a vast and contiguous zone of Kurdish control could stir up separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish minority. Ankara is concerned over reports that Kurdish rebels are chasing other ethnic groups, such as Arabs and Turkmens, out of the areas under their control. Ankara is also eager to shake accusations that it is turning a blind eye to the Islamic State group — especially after photos were published showing the grinning fanatics within a stone’s throw of the Turkish border during the battle for Tal Abyad, Stein said. There is no evidence that Turkey did anything except stay out of the fight, but Stein said the pictures were embarrassing. “You had ISIS fighters walking within 10 feet (3 meters) of the border, smiling and waving at Turkish border guards,” he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. “That gives the impression of complicity. It’s very damaging to Ankara.” The idea of military intervention across the border remains unpopular in Turkey. Any battles in urban areas would almost certainly mean heavy casualties in a fight against a determined and entrenched foe. The Dogan News Agency on Monday broadcast footage of what it said were IS militants digging ditches and planting mines across from the Turkish border. Even a more limited intervention, such as artillery or air strikes, could increase the flow of Syrians seeking shelter in Turkey, which is already burdened with the world’s largest number of refugees. Fighting in Syria could also weaken the standing of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party, which recently lost its parliamentary majority and is now courting potential coalition partners to stay in power. Most seriously, any fighting in Kurdish areas of Syria risks derailing the peace process with Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey, overturning a key achievement of Erdogan’s leadership and potentially spreading violence across the country. “If there is a decision to attack the cantons in Rojova (the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria), it would amount to an attack on all Kurdish people,” senior Kurdish rebel commander Murat Karayilan said in a statement on Monday. “Such an intervention would be an intervention that takes Turkey to civil war.” More modest forms of intervention in Syria seem likelier. Turkey has long pressed the US to set up a no-fly zone — to no avail — and previous plans for a buffer zone have been shelved. Stein believes Monday’s meeting will probably result in orders to Turkey’s border forces to take their gloves off. Meanwhile any hopes that recent rebel gains against the government of President Bashar Assad elsewhere in Syria had turned the dictator’s allies against him were knocked back by a surprise visit by Syria’s foreign minister to Moscow on Monday. The Kremlin’s policy to “support Syria, the Syrian leadership and the Syrian people remains unchanged,” news agencies quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as telling the envoy. III. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/turkey-prepares-syria-invasion-to-break-isil-and-the-kurds Turkey prepares Syria invasion to break ISIL … and the Kurds Richard Spencer, The Telegraph | June 30, 2015 6:53 PM ET More from The Telegraph Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands as newly elected legislators take their oaths during the Turkish parliamentís first session in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 Turkey has sent shock waves through the Middle East by preparing plans to send troops into Syria for the first time, turning the civil war into an international conflict on Europe’s borders. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has authorised a change in the rules of engagement agreed by the Turkish parliament to allow the army to strike at Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as the Assad regime, according to local newspapers. The aim is to establish a buffer zone for refugees and against ISIL, but ***Mr Erdogan has also suggested that the main target of the intervention, if it goes ahead, will be to prevent the emergence of a Kurdish state on Turkey’s doorstep*** [emphasis added]. The Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, has established dominance in a border strip across the north of the country in recent months. “We will never allow the establishment of a state in Syria’s north and our south,” Mr Erdogan said at the weekend. “We will continue our fight in this regard no matter what it costs.” Turkey has urged the creation of a buffer zone protected by international forces in the north of Syria ever since the civil war sent hundreds of thousands of refugees across the border. That figure is approaching two million, making Turkey the single largest host of refugees of any country. But until now it has refused to countenance “going it alone” in intervention in Syria. The plans were discussed in a meeting of the national security council Monday night. Following Mr Erdogan’s speech, Turkish media were briefed on new orders being given to the military to prepare to send an 18,000-strong force across the border, with some reports saying the move could take place as early as Friday. The troops would seize a stretch of territory 60 miles long by 20 deep, including the border crossings of Jarablus, currently in ISIL hands, and Aazaz, currently controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) but under attack from ISIL. The buffer zone would kill several birds with one stone. As well has allowing Turkey to establish refugee camps not on its soil but under its protection, it would prevent the two current zones of Kurdish control – from Kobane to the Iraq border in the east, and Afrin in the west – from joining up. The Turkish establishment is hostile to the YPG, as an offshoot of the PKK guerrilla group which has fought for autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for four decades. The zone would also allow Turkey more easily to control the flow of weapons and fighters into Syria, something that critics say it has not done well enough, encouraging the rise of ISIL. There is not sufficient reason to send Turkish troops to Syria. Once you do that there is no way out Changing the rules of engagement would give Turkey a pretext for intervention. The Assad regime has been driven back and has been careful to present no threat that would justify an attack, but ISIL is attacking FSA forces supported by Turkey on the border. “ISIL, along with other armed groups that have the potential to jeopardise Turkey’s security, will be included as threats to Turkey in the amended rules and the Turkish armed forces could launch an operation against ISIL once it approaches its borders,” the pro-Erdogan Sabah newspaper reported. It remains unclear whether the threat to intervene will be followed up by action. The military is said to be unhappy to involve ground troops in the civil war. They are said to be offering to join the international bombing campaign against ISIL instead. “It may be the government wants to do this but there are numerous institutional reservations,” said Sinan Ulgen, head of the Edam think tank in Istanbul. In particular, there is a question mark over whether the intervention would be legal under Turkish law without a vote in parliament, or in international law without a UN Security Council resolution. There would also be intense opposition to the operation being approved by the prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who is only still in place because of difficulties forming a coalition after his party, the Islamist AKP, failed to win a majority in this month’s election. The intervention would also be opposed by the rival Republican People’s Party (CHP), which blames Mr Erdogan for making the Syrian war worse by supporting Islamist rebels rather than using his influence to negotiate peace. “There is not sufficient reason to send Turkish troops to Syria,” said Faruk Logoglu, who until the election was head of the CHP’s foreign affairs committee. “Once you do that there is no way out.” -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
