Turkish air strikes against Afrin Kurds. Assad opens roads to Kurdish reinforcements
Russian and American army chiefs conferred urgently Saturday, Jan. 20, about Turkey’s escalating assault on Kurdish Afrin in N. Syria. For the first time in the Syrian civil war, Bashar Assad told his army to let Kurdish reinforcements pass through the main highway from Hasakah and the Aleppo region to come to the aid of the beleaguered Kurdish YPG militia in the northern enclave of Afrin against a threatened Turkish invasion. Turkish attacks escalated to air strikes on Saturday from cross-border shelling Friday. President Tayyip Erdogan’s assault on Afrin was the subject of an urgent phone call from Russian Chief of Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov to the Chairman of the US Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford. DEBKAfile reports that they discussed coordinating US and Russian air force conduct over northern Syria after Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ratcheted up the crisis by report the air strikes and saying, “The destruction of the YPG and PKK has begun.”
Read DEBKAfile’s earlier analysis of how the Afrin confrontation began.
Turkish artillery shelling Friday, Jan. 19 kicked off a major offensive against the Kurdish Afrin enclave of N. Syria, shortly after the Turkish C-of-S and intelligence chief left Moscow. No statement followed the visit as to whether Gen. Hulusi Akar had succeeded in his mission of winning Moscow’s cooperation. What happened next was word that the Russian troops positioned in Afrin were to be moved out of the targeted region for safety.
Three days earlier, on Jan. 16, Gen. Akar, who leads one of NATO’s largest armies, visited Brussels and asked the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford, not to counter the planned Turkish invasion for “clearing YPG [Kurdish militia] fighters from Afrin.” But he was cautioned by the American general against going forward with this offensive. In Ankara, President Tayyip Erdogan shot back by informing parliament in Ankara that the Turkish military operation against the Kurds of Afrin was “imminent.” For Erdogan, relations with Washington, which supports the Syrian Kurds, had reached breaking point.
Moscow’s decision to move the Russian contingent at the airport of Afrin out of the way of crossfire, 10 months after its deployment there, was a sign that the Kremlin is taking seriously Erdogan’s threat to crush the Kurds of Afrin. The Turkish ruler has stepped up his anti-Kurd rhetoric even more since US plans were revealed for creating a 30,000-strong border army, predominantly made up of Kurdish militias, in northern Syria. The Kurdish YPG has meanwhile warned the Turks and the Syrian rebel force they support: “If they dare to attack, we are ready to bury them one by one in Afrin.”
But Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli left no room for doubt that the die has been cast, when he said Friday in Ankara: “The assault has begun, the operation has actually started de facto with cross-border shelling. I don’t want it to be misunderstood. All terror networks and elements in northern Syria will be eliminated.”
DEBKAfile’s military sources note that the Turkish army must overcome four obstacles before its tanks and troops can roll across the border into Afrin.
- The US forces based in northern Syria. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to the Turkish shelling and threats, but the American outpost in Manbij is no more than 120km from Afrin. Erdogan has included Manbij in his threat to capture Afrin. On Jan. 16, our sources reported that the US had supplied the YPG for the first time with portable anti-air missiles to defend themselves in the event of potential Turkish air strikes. But at this early stage, the Kurds are believed capable of standing up to the Turkish offensive.
- Syria has warned Turkey against an incursion of its territory would be deemed an act of aggression and threatened its air defenses would shoot down Turkish jets overflying Syria. Our military sources note that, in any case, Russia controls the airspace over Afrin, a fact that may well deter Ankara from using its air force.
- An ingathering of all the Kurdish forces from their northern Syrian bastions in the defense of the YPG, would confront the Turkish army with between 20,000 and 30,000 trained Kurdish fighters well-armed with American weapons, whose motivation for defending their land would be more powerful than any invading force. In past engagements with the Islamic State, the Turkish army’s performance was middling.
- ISIS and Syrian rebel groups may well take advantage of a major Turkish-Kurdish clash to recover territory which they lost to Kurdish fighters in northern and eastern Syria. It is hard to see the United States letting that happen.
Time to kick out Turkey from NATO.
I Know. Why are they allowed to stay in NATO for. I’ve always wondered that.
geo politics..
‘geo-politics’ translation:
‘jewing’
Whatever you say, Joseph iVaN Goebbels.
Don’t be stupid, Eevahn, Turkey has been courted a long time as the soft underbelly of Russia, Turkey used to be a democracy that didn’t go Islamic Jihad crazy keeping their religion and government separate., Yes it was geopolitics, cold war geopolitics, the US was attempting to contain Russia’s expansion because every country that bordered Russia always was overthrown by Russia into a communist satellite proxy nation for the benefit of those luckless proxy nations citizens, bad capitalism – good Russian so-called freedom, always used as a protective buffer around russia to protect poor russia. Your blaming Jews is the most ignorant, racist, garbage heard in a long time. Russia’s biggest problem isn’t the US but China.
Yes sure and hand them over two Russia
They are already with Russia. Turks want another Ottoman Empire. They already make deals with Iran and Russia..
Erdogan is a thug and dictator. Belongs where all dictators end up. Not to long ago Turkey was a democratic country with Christians and Muslims populations living in harmony.. Not with Erdogan. Big supporter of Hamas and Arab terror. Enemy of US, enemy of Israel and enemy of all free countries. ISIS, Iran and Turkey. All competing for the leadership of of an Islamic Empire.
The new ottoman empire has been written on the wall since erdogan came to power. He is radical muslim, destroying Ataturk´s legacy and returning turkey to the dark ages under a dictator. His rants against the Kurds has only been repeats of Israel´s way of speaking about terrorism. He doesn´t believe anything of what he says…he just uses it to do as he wants. I think this will be the linking of American and Russian forces all have been waiting for. Both need this to stop immediately. Or ISIS will really take another foothold. This is where Assaids has to show his little humanity…and support American protection of Kurds as well as Russian. Erdogan is doing exactly the same to Kurds as his earlier predecessors did to Armenians. The fact is…. Kurds are a partner to a major NATO power. They are syrians…not turks and in syria in an autonomous zone under protection of nato. An attack on a fledgling nation that could be our next nato member in the middle east is tantamount to a declaration of war against NATO and should be treated as such. As a nato member they should never be having any bilateral talks with the enemy against the very reason for natos existence.
PYD is a terrorist organization. USA is arming terrorists.
They are with Russia only because of the incompetence of US policy driving them in to Russia’s arms. US never should have gotten involved in Syria in the first place.
Bosphorus strait….. Black sea/Danube River system. The one and ONLY reason Turkey is in NATO.
Never, Iago. Like to the Pontick Sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne’er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
Shall ne’er look back, ne’er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Swallow them up……
At mare Mediterraneum, quod est sinuum maximus, et hujus partes Tyrrahenum, Pontus, et Propontis, et similiter mare Balticum, quae omnia reflectunt ad orientem, destituuntur fere,et fluxus habent imbeccillos.
THe_’WeST’, a model for parasite-altered host behaviour
That’s music to Russia and Iran .
The three will form the most powerful trio iin M E .
No more US /Israel influence in ME.
ahahahah,go and make a partnership with the adepts of the religion of peace,never heard of takiyah?
I hope that Erdogan’s dream of a greater Turkish Caliphate are smashed. I hope that The Kurdish people get a homeland. I hope that Iran is sent back to their Persian Islamic Caliphate and that the Persian people oust the Islamic fascist interlopers. I hope that Muslims keep on fighting Muslims until the people at a very basic gut level realize what a savage and barbaric system of beliefs infects their lands and their brains. Islam needs a complete overhaul.
The Kurds are a biblical people and still have a place in prophecy……I dont expect the Turks will prevail.
Destroy all Islamist regimes.
Good idea!
oh yes…such a practical comment, never mind hey..
Keep hopin’ …any other ideas??
Keep hopin’ …any other useful ideas??
Destroy political correctness. Immediately dispense with the nonsense that the “Palestinian” issue is “key” to Mideast peace, and forever destroy the 20th century con that is “Palestine”, “Palestinians”, and the “Palestinian” “cause”. Give the Kurds, a reliable fighting ally, 100 % American support, which sticks it to despicable enemy Islamist regimes in Iran and Turkey at the same stroke.
Nice hopes.
Your hopes are not pure.
^^^^ 100% ^^^^
Erdogan before:
1.Israel is bad when they fight terrorists
2.Israel is bad when the build a wall
3.Israel is bad when they have troops outside I.
4.Jerusalem is Muslim and Cyprus is Turkish
Let’s face it, if Israel or USA do it, then it is evil in the eyes of muzzies and euros and UN dictators and they scream like stuffed pigs. If Islamic terrorists and leaders do it, then it is fine with all the above and they do not give a shit about public opinion and a leftist media which usually favors and takes sides with the terrorists who are running over their citizens, blowing up their market squares, fighting against their troops in hellish places, and taking over their governments with creeping sharia, etc.
The fate of Kurdish state depends on Europeans and on NATO. The Kurds need political support from EU and NATO, to stop Turkish invasion. USA ,with their unpopular president can not stand alone against entire hostile world. Personally I do do not belive that EU will support Kurds since they’re a bunch of terrified chickens afraid of their own shadow.
With their invited Islamic terrorist guests, they have more than “shadows” to fear. They are willingly giving up the reins of power – first to the leftist Islamist sympathizers and then to the Islamists once they are done with the leftists.
It’s amazing how blind (ignorant?) the left is concerning Islam. Foolishly believing themselves to be of any use to Islam after Islam gains control. They will have to bow before the imans just as president Obama willing did. The ISLAM that fought WITH the nazis in has not changed one iota.
God does not love the liars. USA made promises to Turkey. Kept none. Turkey does not need such an ally.
The fate of Kurdish state depends on Europeans and on NATO. The Kurds need political support from EU and NATO, to stop Turkish invasion. USA ,with their unpopular president can not stand alone against entire hostile world. Personally I do do not belive that EU will support Kurds since they’re a bunch of terrified chickens afraid of their own shadow.
Let’s see what Erdogan will be able to do… It all depends if he has Putin’s support… Erdogan will probably take all NATO personnel at Incerlik as hostages. He has allready done it in a soft way in the past. There is no place in NATO for Turkey as there’s no place for them in EU… About EU being “terrified chickens” please consider that EU is very far from being a nation and every single EU nation is pursuing his own interest and often these interests are conflicting… If the Kurds will fight and not retreat like they did in Northern Iraq, a war against them might be for Turkey worst than the latest Lebanon War for Israel… You can say everything about the Middle East except that it’s boring…
If Erdogan takes all NATO personnel at Incerlik as hostages. I would see President Trump threaten to nuke Ankara and the idiot Erdogan, the Turks need to remove this dumbass before that blinding flash of light and big boom does it for them, losing their NATO security blanket and gaining a hungry Russia licking their chops at what was Turkey. Dasvidaniya Turkey.
that would be foolish, and wasteful. it doesn’t take a nuke to get rid of a dictator. and, in any event, the us of a would do better to stay out of other countries’ internal politics, because they aren’t very good at it.
Cry baby cry. Erdogan is going to show you how it is done. Blatant liars will get what they deserve.
the kurds are, once again, between a rock and a hard place. the turkish army is huge, and equipped with american-made weapons. and the only countries the kurds can expect any help from are america and israel.
i don’t think washington is ready, politically, to go head-to-head with the turks, and are more likely to follow obama’s doctrine of “no boots on the ground” – translation: “shove kurdistan under the bus”.
and israel is treading cautiously, to keep from getting sucked into the syrian civil war.
the kurds deserve better, but it’s anyone’s guess if and when they will ever get it.
Kurds are very capable to defend themselves well armed with American weapons also. Assaid´s and Russia will never allow a full turkish invasion force so it is in all reality limited warfare. One turkey cant win, no matter what. American and allied planes are already in area as is for support. No need for american boots on ground, but reality is … trump will act and stuff the Turks in his eyes if they threaten American allies. Australia is not a nato member but an American allie and can and will invariably bomb the hell out of the turks at behest of American wishes…with no real repercussion to NATO. Lot of ways to go here, none appealing to turkeys advantage.
I think the US has enough boots on the ground to do what it needs. All the US needs to do now is step into the airbase the Russians left. Just for a week or two. That will give the Turks a second thought.
If it does not the Turks will be made to see the error of their ways. The Turks will back down long before the States. The military is ready and Trump is no pushover. Again a early sign to the Turks military wise by the States can solve this issue in my opinion. Better now than in a couple of years when the States will not have anywhere near the firepower in theatre than it has now.
Turkey will not hesitate to send Johnny back in a coffin. Your ally Turkey has told you what to do. If you claim any alliance, why have you not listened for years? USA made empty promises and kept arming terrorists. No promise has been kept. God will show you what you have done. Nobody is going to ally with the United States after this. Turkey is going to make an example of PYD terrorists and the Americans who support them.
5. The mighty Israeli army will help their Kurdish proxies and crush the armies of Turkey and Russia with an iron fist and God’s will!
Russia will not be crushed by anyone except Israel’s Messiah
The Kurds are large enough in numbers and historically ever present in the region so deserve a state. The problem is as soon as one part is made autonomous then Iran will get nervous as well as Syria and Turkey (not to mention the oil stocks there)..so either way they’ll not be allowed to have a country of their own. Meanwhile they’ll be used by everyone and their agendas…then “spat out”. The Kurds will always be suffering unfortunately.
To be more objective, this is not an action against the Kurds. This is against PKK, the terror group that has been on Turkey’s agenda for more then 30 years. Most of above remarks carry racial prejudice against the Turkish Nation, which is made up of many minorities. Turkey will surely take Afrin, then move on. We are not going to watch our so called allies keep arming terrorists whose only agenda is to take land from our country. Watch and learn……
Northern Syria once belonged to the Ottomans, but it is not Turkish land. Kurds have fought and earned right to have it, and a piece of Iraq. They actually like America, and will provide us forward deployment against the malignant Islamist Iranian regime, by giving us that great big airbase Saddaam built at Irbil. What has Islamist Erdogan given, apart from duplicity and ingratitude?
Not sure prejudiced. We know cowardly Turks and Pigdogan are too busy sucking on Camel pricks and drinking fermented Camel prick juice to think clearly. Sometime soon the Islamicist PIGDOGAN will tangle with the GREAT USA and pay for it. Turkey is a nation of LOOSERS
Racial prejudices? I’m pretty sure it’s well deserved being that you Turks, have a islamonatzi President/dictator who no one in this world likes except for Iran, and a few other “shit hole” islamic countries like.
The only racial prejudices that are spilled are out of erdogans disgusting pie hole against Israel and the Kurds.
With all do respect, (Ok, no respect intended), piss on erdogan and his supporters!
Now that was just plain stupid, wasnt it. Its an attack against the YPG … not the PKK. YPG live in syria and not turkey. It is PKK that lives in turkey. No body gives a damn what you ” percieve ” as racist remarks against turkey. The remarks are legit remarks in response to turkeys cros border actions and nothing more. No one gives a damn how many minorities live in turkey. We are only concerned with turkeys president and his racist actions of discriminación against the kurds of syria. Your and turkeys internal problems are your own doing and not for discussion here. Remember the Armenian genocide…. turkeys racist genocidal destruction of a peoples… it is same here with syrian and iraqi kurds. They are not yours or turkeys to deal with… ya racist fug!
God sets up kings and brings them down at his will!
Either way his will will be done in this matter.
Great comment
Assad is letting YPG enforcements to Afrin for their annihilation. A wise move to get rif of Kurds and their modern weapons supplied by US.
Dont worry Mr Trump – just enjoy your time in Davos – enjoying the luxury life….
Dont worry about the Kurds, Mr Trump – they are used to be stabbed in the back by the USA !
As I said – have a great time in Davos-
who cares for the Kurds anyway…
All the wishful thinking that the Pkk/Pyd is a strong army will eventually prove itself false. Did you notice how wast they took over Raqqa in the summer, without losing a single member. How miraculous isn’t it? Obviously it was a deal, without fighting. Yes PKK/YPG are great guerrilla fighters. They can ambush, hit from behind and hide. They are terrible as an organized army force. It does not matter what weapons USA or anybody else supplies. Turkey is the 2nd largest army in NATO, building its own missiles and drones. Don’t let your hatred get in the way of reality commentators. This is an easy operation for Turkey, watch and see…. Don’t weep too much…
Turkey is only number four in nato ranking´s of size and #16 in potency. It is you that is dreaming. It doesn´t matter how you fight a war…. if guerrilla warfare does the job… then its a win no matter how you look at it. That´s exactly what the kurds have been doing and growing. That´s what you turk´s are afraid off. But no worries…soon you fugger´s will be out of NATO and no longer a statistic of NATO´s concern. The syrian kurd´s are a partner to American forces in syria..and as thus are a “NATO” force. As it is turkey that attacked a “nato” force, then it will be turkey that is ejected. Please don´t cry at the outcome yourself. This is only a limited warefare and as thus…turkey cant win. Kurds are protecting a home and you turk´s in last exploration into syria were only very middling in capability. Lot of loss´s also lol 🙂
I do not know why some people are here support Apoist suicide bombers. Suicide bombers and ideology is source of terrorism.
Turkey just cut gas line deal with Russians. I seriously doubt that it cares about Turkey violating airspace in Syria to pound Afrin, while US carving a state for Kurds. This theoretically could force Kurds to work with Assad. They are not strangers . They had essentially autonomous region already there before the war. The obstacle would be US Bases which are anathema to Turkey Russia and Syria.
“The obstacle would be US Bases which are anathema to Turkey Russia and Syria.” Very insightful. In fact Turkey will eliminate US presence in Syria on Russia’s behest. This is Turkey’s payment for Russian gas and Putin’s election campaign start. Russia will benefit even if Turkey loses since it will peal off Turkey from NATO and have it join Russia’s growing axis of evil. This war was planned last year before Turkey made a major purchase of Russian weapon systems. Putin is delivering to his natural gas and weapon manufacturing oligarchs in order to buy more time at Russia’s helm before his personal Grim Ripper rectifies his satanic deeds world around.
Erdogan and his minions will be gone within 30 to 60 days, into the ash bin of history! As the Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri [Turkish Armed Forces] exert appropriate control and guarantee the taking of Turkey into the peaceful economic and scientific technology 21st Century for its 80 million as opposed to living in the Erdogan Ottoman Caliphate past. Good riddance to bad rubbish!
First i am a turk. And we have got a old saw
”’ every turk birth as a soldier”‘ And you talking from there but you dont know nothing about here and turks and kurds and syria and turkey. İn short time you will learn who is turks… aa never safe the your big guns. We destroyed many nation with big gun big armies in history..
Wow so much ill informed people here.
So much racism. I personally have been to Turkey and found that it is one of the nicest places and the turkish people are amongst the nicest people on earth.
The kurdish debacal grew when the British screwed them at the treaty of lassales. When they never gave them land after they split the ottomam empire. Turks and kurds have been living together in turkey peacefully for years. There are kurdish radio and tv channels and schools.
The pkk are about 10% of the kurdish population if that. They want land from Turkey which was never given to them during the treaty after the world war so they can set up there own country. This was what the allies wanted and what was agreed upon by many nations. Why would a nation give up there land? Which is an imaginative line drawn up by our British imperialists.
Also the pkk are a known terrorist group in tbis part of the world which America has armed to use them against the syrian government. Mainly to do there dirty work and not get get there hands dirty. The pkks main goal for years was to gain land from turkey.
Politics, shabby history and dirty media tricky aside we are all humans. To me it so sad that humans can kill humans. We should all try to get along. Doesnt matter if your turk kurd syrian american isreali jew muslim russian. We are only killing ourselves and our neighbours.
Love one another and appreciate how different we can be. And when war comes stay home.
Theres an old saying. If war breaks out and no one goes to fight. There wouldnt even be a war.
Lets all live in peace. Come on its 2018.
Tired i agree you. We turks and kurds never wanna war. But there are many spy german kgb mossad cia in turkey. Now german govermant had a desicion. They dont give us parts of our kaplan tank. Why . Because we attack to pkk ypg with this. Germany clearly support pkk. abd england france canadian all country support ypg pkk. Many france england abd and the other nation soldiers in ypg. They fight with turks. So these are our enemies. We began to attack. And we never stop till destroy all terrorist ypg pkk. Now thousends turks applied to turk military to be a soldier. Aaa not only turks. arab pakistani and many nation wait for war. You are ignoble. You dont have a honore. Why do you know. You cant say a terrorist to pkk ypg. Cause you are funk. But we turks will destroy all terrorists and traitors and then our enemies.