Turkish Military Operation Against SDF/US Troops In E. Syria Within 24 Hours - Reports

How the fuck is Turkey still in NATO?

If Erdogan has the balls to move forward with this operation, they wont be in NATO for long.

Why Turkey's military operation east of the Euphrates could reshape region

The phrase "red line" has become commonplace in the rhetoric of world leaders, referencing unacceptable actions or policies.

For Turkey, the presence of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) along its border with Syria is a matter of national security, coloured in the most vibrant shade of crimson.

While the US views the YPG as the backbone of its coalition partner, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Turkey sees it as the Syrian arm of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Washington and Ankara.

Turkey has waged a four-decade domestic war on terror against the PKK. More than 40,000 people were killed in the conflict. Now, after months of voicing security concerns to his US counterpart, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally announced that preparations are complete for a military operation east of the Euphrates targeting the YPG.

Worst-case scenario
Now, in case of a clash between its NATO ally and its Syria coalition partner, the White House will be faced with a tough foreign policy decision. Will Trump side with Erdogan and allow Turkey to neutralise elements it views as a security threat, or will he protect the YPG and create a huge hurdle for Turkey, which could result in an irreparable break in bilateral relations?

On Monday, Erdogan suggested that Trump was more receptive to Turkish plans to move east of the Euphrates River than his own US Department of Defense. “We officially announced that we will start a military operation to the east of the Euphrates,” Erdogan said in a speech in the central province of Konya. “We discussed this with Mr Trump and he gave a positive response.”

The US presence in the region also poses complexities for Turkey. With around 2,000 US troops and 20 military bases in the region, an extensive military operation runs the risk of an accidental showdown between US and Turkish troops - a worst-case scenario that both Washington and Ankara want to avoid at all costs.

Turkey will also face a much larger YPG force than it did in its previous military operation in Afrin, with around 40,000 fighters in the region. But when it comes to Turkey’s national security, preventing the PKK and its affiliates from establishing a stronghold along its borders has always been a red line.

Erdogan has set the countdown in motion, and the ball is now in Trump’s court: Washington’s response could shape not only the future of US-Turkey relations, but also the territorial makeup and demographics of the region for decades.

[link to www.middleeasteye.net (secure)]

Interesting

Gollum must die.


:gollum:

:erdogan:
:erdogan2:

Short term doom countdown

We're best frenemies.

We don't have enough of a clusterfuck in Syria already? Somebody call China. maybe they could drop in some paratroopers or such.

The US Always sells out the partially Christian Kurds. If we had any brains with Iraq, we would have set up boundaries for Kurdistan. But Turkey would have shit since some of it would have come out of Turkey.

Last Edited by Bennder on 12/18/2018 02:49 PM

Turkish military success in northeast Syria contingent on US: opposition


The success of Turkey’s possible military operation on the eastern shore of the Euphrates river in Syria will depend on coordination with the US, which can change position at any time, Ozturk Yilmaz, the deputy chairman of the Turkish opposition party said.

“If it is well coordinated with the United States, it will have some effect, of course. At least [it will cut] this area of 550 kilometers [342 miles] and will block the corridor… from the East of the Euphrates River up to the Kurdish area,” Ozturk Yilmaz, the deputy chairman of the Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) responsible for foreign relations, told Sputnik on Tuesday, adding that “the United States is not stable in terms of its policy as it “can twist its words and twist its actions anytime.”

According to Yilmaz, Trump can “change his words” and “the White House as always may get back from its position,” however, the media reports state that the US President “gave the blessing to the operation in the Eastern part of the Euphrates River.”

The lawmaker suggested that the aim of the United States in Syria was to “create an Iraqi type of government” there as well as to protect the Kurdish enclave, which could become an autonomous region.

[link to www.almasdarnews.com (secure)]

Turkey is Allied with Russia and Iran.

Turkey is a whore, does bj to the strongest at the moment, if it fits its agenda.

what yer saying is true.

but ultimately they are with Russia-Iran, because
Turkey knows that they are the winners and will
take over the Middle East with the new Persian Empire.

:Edogan Gollum:

I think Kurds have been sold out behind the scenes,.

US will have no problem with Turkey making a move in Syria, as long as they promise to hang on to the territory. And not return it to SAA/Russia.

If Assad/Russia made a move against YPG US would slap the snot out of the both of them.

DITTO!

It sounds like turkey's goose is about to get cooked.

Kurds are fucked

Thread: BREAKING: Planning is underway for a ‘full and rapid’ withdrawal of US troops from Syria