US provides Kurds in Syria with wepapons to the dismay of Turkey

President Donald Trump has decided to provide the YPG Kurds in Syria with weapons. The YPG or People's Protection Units are key allies in fighting the Islamic State but are regarded as terrorists by the Turks.

The Turks worry that the Kurds will establish an independent or autonomous Kurdish area on the northern border of Syria with Turkey. This may provide Kurds in Turkey more encouragement to establish more autonomy or even independence in adjacent Kurdish areas of the Turkey. The arms are intended to help the YPG and its Arab allies carry out an offensive against Raqqa the de facto capital of the Islamic State in Syria. The Turks were hoping that they would be involved in the offensive. U.S. troops are helping out the Kurds. The YPG is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) a multi-ethnic force that includes Arabs. The group has just recently captured the town of Tabqa and the adjacent dam. The U.S. is to send heavy machine guns, anti-tank weapons, armored cars, and engineering equipment to help out with the offensive against Raqqa.

Turkey has tried to get the U.S. to break off its alliance with the Syrian Kurds as it considers the YPG group key members of the Syrian Democratic as terrorists and simply an arm of the Kurdistan Worker's Party that both the U.S. and Turkey classify as terrorists. However, the U.S. does not classify the YPG as terrorist and consider them key fighters against the IS as part of the SDF. As discussed in a recent Digital Journal, Turkey wants the U.S. to reverse its decision immediately. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavasoglu said: Both the PKK and the YPG are terrorist organisations and they are no different, apart from their names. Every weapon seized by them is a threat to Turkey.”

Trump has long claimed he gives priority to defeating the Islamic State and he has agreed to a long-delayed plan to capture Raqqa using the forces of the SDF. They are said to have 45,000 fighters in all with 13,000 of them Arabs. It has often defeated the IS when supported by U.S. air strikes as well as advisers on the ground. The U.S. also hopes that Mosul in Iraq can also be captured soon dealing the IS a double blow.

Turkey has itself sent troops to help out anti-Assad forces but also to try and stop the expansion of Kurdish influence. While the use of Turkish ground troops to capture territory west of the Euphrates has had some success. The U.S. has been wary of asking for help from Turkey in the offensive against Raqqa as it suspects that Turkey is more interesting in ensuring that the Kurds control no more territory rather than fighting the Islamic State. The Turks are also quite anxious to keep pressure on the Assad regime whereas the Kurds appear to have little interest in doing this.

Turkey has already back on April 25th attacked Kurdish positions and killed 20 fighters and threatened similar actions. The U.S. was angered and called the Turkish air strikes unacceptable and sent U.S. troops to the Raqqa area so that Turkey would not possibly attack Kurdish troops there and it also set up patrols on the Syrian side of the border. Trump's decision to arm the Kurds may make it difficult for Turkey to keep up a military campaign against the YPG in Syria and will give the group more influence.

Turkish president Erdogan is to meet with Trump on the May 16 and 17. The meeting could be filled with conflict but Trump is unpredictable. However, as of now there appears to be little likelihood that he will reverse his policy just because Erdogan wants him to do so. Trump may attempt to reassure Turkey that the weapons sent to the Kurds will be limited and will be used only against the Islamic State. However, the Turks may rightfully doubt that it will be impossible to make sure this happens. The Kurds, for their part, also worry that once the Islamic State is defeated the U.S. will have no use for them and will ally themselves more closely with Turkish interests.

Turkish military claims to have killed more than 70 Kurdish fighters in Syria in one week.

A statement by the Turkish military claimed that Turkish troops have killed at least 71 fighters from Kurdish YPG during the past week in Syria. They also claimed that since invading Syria they have killed 425 Kurds.

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Wikipedia, describes the YPG as follows:

The People's Protection Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎, یەکینەکانی پاراستنی گەل pronounced [jɑkinæjen pɑrɑstinɑ gæl]; YPG) is the militia of the Democratic Union Party, the primary component of Rojava's Syrian Democratic Forces, and the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) according to the Turkish government.

The Turkish government considers the YPG as a terrorist group but not the Americans who support the YPG. The YPG are part of the umbrella group Syrian Democratic Forces(SDF) that includes more than Kurds. The U.S. has been attempting to try to prevent clashes between the YPG and Turkish troops as discussed in a recent Digital Journal article.

The US already has embedded a number of Army Rangers in the city of Manbij to forestall any Turkish attack. The Turks originally focused on Islamic State targets but have always said that they intend to eliminate not just the Islamic State but the YPG as well. However, the U.S. considers the YPG to be a key ally in defeating the Islamic State. Turkish officials have expressed anger that the U.S. claims that the Kurds are not all terrorists insisting the the U.S. has lost its senses.

Cihan Sheikh Ehmed, a spokesperson for the SDF forces said that it has enough forces to take the de facto Islamic Syrian capital with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. This statement is perhaps a veiled warning to Turks not to become involved as they are also heading towards the city. U.S. troops appear to be playing a larger role on the ground in the offensive towards Raqqa. Ehmed's remarks are likely to anger Turkey as it would like Turkish troops and rebels it supports to lead the offensive not the SDF dominated by the YPG that it considers terrorists.

The U.S. has been launching many air strikes on Raqqa as the SDF forces advance closer to the city. 13 strikes were reported on various targets. The Turks and allied Syrian rebels claim to have killed 2,647 Islamic State (IS) fighters and added more than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) to the territory they control. The Assad regime wants Turkey to remove its troops. Syrian state media reported last Friday that Turkish troops had shelled Syrian army positions killing and wounding several troops.

Trump was given a new plan for defeating the Islamic State late in February. While the White House has yet to decide upon the options outlined in the plan, recent deployments of U.S. troops into Syria suggest that the Pentagon is being allowed greater flexibility in making routine combat decisions and increasing troop numbers.

The Russians also have been on the offensive in Syria helping Assad and defeating the IS:The Russian military said Friday that its warplanes have killed more than 600 militants in just one week while backing the Syrian army's offensive against IS. Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff said Russian aircraft have carried out 452 airstrikes in support of the Syrian government forces. In addition, Rudskoi stated that Syrian government forces have recaptured 92 towns and villages across a territory of 479 square kilometers, or 185 square miles, from IS in the past week.

While the IS seems to be close to losing the last major city it holds in Iraq there is increasing danger of further conflict of Turkish forces with the SDF, a situation the U.S. is anxious to avoid.

US troops try to keep Turks and Kurdish troops from clashes in Syria

American forces have been seen in a convoy near the Syrian city of Manbij. In areas west of the city there have been clashes between the Kurdish-linked Manbij Military Council (MMC) and Turkish troops.

This article includes photos of the U.S. troops in a convoy and some flying the U.S. flag. The troops are also shown in the appended video. A U.S. spokesperson said that the action was deliberately aimed at ensuring the Islamic State was defeated. The Pentagon claims the forces were a "visible sign of deterrence". Colonel John Dorrian, spokesperson for the Combined Task Force of Operation Inherent Resolve said in a tweet that deployment of the troop was taken to assure forces within the U.S.-led coalition "deter aggression" and "keep the focus on defeating ISIS" elsewhere. No doubt the hope is that with the Americans present, Turkish troops will not try to take the city of Manjib.

The Turks consider the Kurd troops terrorists and enemies. They are angry that the Americans support them as a key ally in defeating the Islamic State. The MMC published video of the U.S. forces arriving north of Manbij last Friday. A U.S. military official said that the troop deployment did not mean there were more U.S. troops now in Syria.

A spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Erdogan repeated demands for Kurdish military units, the YPG, to leave the city. Turkey is demanding that Kurdish forces stay east of the Euphrates. The Turkiish troops are carrying out what they call Operation Euphrates Shield:Ankara explained that the main objectives of the cross-border military campaign were to maintain border security and confront the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorism, and to deny the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organisation - as well as its affiliates Syrian PYD/YPG - a fait accompli to create autonomous zones on Turkey's doorstep.

Erdogan warned that the Kurdish troops could be removed by force if they did not comply. The Turks are unlikely to try to dislodge the Kurdish troops with Americans present.

In another move that will annoy Turkey and shows that the Kurds have little interest in challenging the Assad regime, the MMC announced that it struck a deal with Russia that would hand over control of more than 20 villages between Manbij and Al-Bab to the Syrian army. In effect this creates a buffer zone between the Turkish rebels and troops of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Kurds would rather see Assad forces control the area than the Turks and their allies.

Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis said that the U.S. led coalition was well aware of the Russian-supported Syrian forces saying: "They are certainly aware of where we are, and we are aware of where they are. There is no intention between the two of there being any conflict against any party other than ISIS." Given that the Assad troops will be directly in the path of the Turks and their rebel allies if they try to advance south to Manbij there will surely be clashes between them rather than with the Islamic State. The US and its Kurdish allies obviously agree that the priority is not to defeat Assad but the Islamic State even to the point of handing over territory to Assad and Russian allies.

Lt. General Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Statt's Main Operational Directorate, confirmed that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had reached agreement with the Assad regime in a deal that Russia had brokered. An analyst at Russia's RIA Novosti, Gevorg Mirzayan suggests that the deal actually is positive for Turkey in that there will be no direct confrontation with the US or the Kurds. However, the Turks will hardly be pleased that territory is simply being handed over to the control of the Assad . The U.S. appears not to have criticized the plan even though the U.S. is supposed to be committed to regime change in Syria. Mirzayan suggests that Russia is very helpfully saving other powers from making disastrous decisions in Syria: "The Kremlin did it a few years ago, when it saved Obama as he was being pushed into a suicidal war against Assad over a provocation involving chemical weapons. Russia found a decision worthy of Solomon, via the removal of these weapons of mass destruction from Syria." This time he argues that Russia has prevented Turkey from an all-out war against the Syrian Kurds that could drag in the Americans. There is perhaps some plausibility to the analysis but Turkey is unlikely to feel much gratitude towards the Russians for their actions or to the Americans for not resisting the deal.

Turks do not want Kurds involved in offensive to take Raqqa from the Islamic State

Turkey does not want the U.S.-backed offensive to take the Syrian Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa by relying on Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Turkish president, Recep Erdogan, said that Turkey could join the U.S.-led operation but only if Kurdish fighters were not involved. Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG and its associated Kurdish Democratic Union party as a terrorist group with links to Kurdish rebel insurgents within Turkey. The U.S., on the other hand, regards the group as among the most effective at fighting against the Islamic State and have provided them with support. This has created tension between the U.S. and Turkey.

Turkey said that if the operation were conducted with the YPG there would be no place in the operation for Turkish forces. Erdogan told reporters:"If they do not insert the PYD and YPG into this business, then certainly, we can get [involved] with the U.S. in this fight." He said it would be a shame if the U.S. and Turkey could not themselves counter the estimated 10,000 Islamic State fighters in Syria. He also called for a "national army" of Syrian rebel groups to maintain security in the region claiming that there were at least 65,000 rebel fighters able to do so. However, U.S. general Joe Dunford said just a week ago that the U.S. was considering arming Syrian Kurdish forces before the Raqqa offensive.

Turkey, a NATO member as well as a member of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, last month launched a ground operation to aid Turkish supported rebels oust the IS from a border town and surrounding area. However, there was some fighting with the YPG as well. A video describing the operation is appended.

A Turkish official claims that using the Kurds would result in prolonged ethnic conflict in the area. Since the town is predominantly Arab, the official suggested that Arab fighters should be the core of any offensive force. The official said; "Raqqa is an Arab city with a million people. If you carry out an operation to this city with 7,000-8,000 Kurdish forces, you would trigger a sectarian battle. That conflict would enflame all our border region." The U.S. has been having talks about a possible joint offensive with Turkey to take Raqqa.

Turkey does not want the Kurds to remain in territory west of the Euphrates river. While some Kurdish troops have withdrawn, some YPG fighters still remain in Manjbi which is west of the Euphrates. The Kurds already control an area further to the west along the Turkish border and the Turks fear that the Kurds might try to link the area with the rest of Syria that the Kurds control.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, echoed Erdogan's warning about using Kurds in the Raqqa offensive. He said that the offensive should include other U.S.-supported rebels and those supported by Turkey but not Kurds. He criticized the U.S. for its ongoing cooperation with the YPG. After the YPG captured the city of Manjbi, the Turks demanded they withdraw. Some have, but Cavusoglu complained that others still remained. Turkey has also talked of expelling "terrorists" from along the entire border a threat covering Kurds east of the Euphrates and an enclave further to the west.

Diverse sources are critical of Kurdish declaration of autonomy in Syria

The Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria have voted to seek autonomy. The vote was to unite three Kurdish-controlled provinces into a federal system. The move could complicate UN-backed peace talks, in which Kurds are not included.

The Kurds in Syria have had an autonomous area in northern Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The vote has brought criticism from diverse sources including the Assad regime, Turkey, and the United States.

US State Department spokesperson, John Kirby, said: "We don't support self-ruled, semi-autonomous zones inside Syria. We just don't. What we want to see is a unified, whole Syria that has in place a government that is not led by (President) Bashar al-Assad that is responsive to the Syrian people. Whole, unified, nonsectarian Syria, that's the goal."While the U.S. has given strong support to the Kurdish PYD party they nevertheless hope for a unified Syria. Turkey considers the PYD terrorists and is angry at American support for them. The Kurds, with American help, have wrested considerable territory from the control of the Islamic State. The Kurds seem less concerned with replacing Assad than with consolidating power over areas they control.

The Kurds will establish what they call the "federal democratic system of Rojava- Northern Syria." Rojava is the Kurdish name for northern Syria. Officials said preparations were being made to elect a joint leadership and a 21 member committee which would prepare a "legal and political vision" for Rojava within the span of six months.

A document at a recent meeting detailed the areas of autonomy: "... the aim was to "establish democratic self-administered regions which run and organize themselves ... in the fields of economy, society, security, healthcare, education, defense and culture." The Kurds insist that the federation is not an attempt to secede from Syria but simply to gain autonomy.

Syrian rebels also criticized the Kurdish move, insisting they oppose all forms of federalism and want a powerful national government. Russia may not oppose the move — Russia has suggested that a federal system is one possible way of resolving the civil war.

The Syria state news agency, SANA, reported that a foreign ministry source said: "Any such announcement has no legal value and will not have any legal, political, social or economic impact as long as it does not reflect the will of the entire Syrian people."

Turkey worries that an autonomous Kurdish zone in neighboring Syria could fuel separatist sentiments among its own Kurdish minority. It considers the PYD to be an ally of the PKK which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. A Turkish official said: : "Syria must remain as one without being weakened and the Syrian people must decide on its future in agreement and with a constitution. Every unilateral initiative will harm Syria's unity." The UN envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said:"All Syrians have rejected division (of Syria) and federalism can be discussed at the negotiations,"

The Kurds control an area stretching about 400 km or 250 miles along the northern Syrian-Turkish border. However, they also control a separate area that is separated from the main territories by about 100 kilometres or 60 miles most of it controlled by the Islamic State.

US and Russian Defence ministers in talks on Syria

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu held talks on Syria. The Pentagon said the two discussed areas where U.S. and Russian "perspective overlap and areas of divergence."

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Russia together with Iran have long been allies of the Assad government in Syria and have provided considerable material help. The Lebanese group Hezbollah has also aided the regime by supplying many fighters. The extent of Russian forces on the ground is not clear, although they no doubt have special forces and trainers to teach the Syrians how to use equipment. The Russians have long had a naval base in the port of Tartarus in Syria.

Both the U.S. and Russians are anxious to prevent any possible conflict between U.S. and Russian forces. The U.S. and its allies have carried out an extensive bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Syria without ever seeking permission from the Syrian government to do so. Assad has tolerated these incursions. No doubt he could do little to prevent them and they help to defeat the Islamic State one of his many rebel enemies. At the same time, support for the Kurds by the U.S. helps a group which for tactical reasons has remained more or less neutral in attitude to the Assad government.

The Kurds appear more concerned with solidifying their hold on territory they occupy rather than fighting Assad. Very early on in the civil war the Assad regime decided to leave the Kurds alone, providing they did not seize territory from Assad or attack regime forces. This Kurd policy is just one more conflict the Turks have with the Kurds and the U.S., who supports them. The Kurds are gaining territory as the IS loses ground, creating a larger Kurdish area that will demand more autonomy or even independence in any political settlement. The Turks have agreed to join the fight against the IS and allowed the U.S. to use an airbase in Turkey but most of Turkish bombing missions are against Kurdish PKK positions in Iraq.

While the U.S. supports the Kurds against the IS in spite of their toleration of Assad, it draws the line at any coordination of its actions with Assad or to have the Russians also help out in the campaign. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said that in the talks, the U.S. was trying to find out the intentions of Russia in Syria as there are reports of a military build-up including the arrival of tactical fighter planes. Toner said:“We’ve been very clear we don’t accept Russia’s premise that somehow Assad can be a credible partner in fighting ISIL. We reject that.” No doubt the U.S. worries about alienating Syrian rebels, even more by not only helping Assad but clearly cooperating with him. As far as the fight against the Islamic State is concerned, the help of the Assad regime and Russia would no doubt aid in defeating the group. In spite of differences the U.S., Syria and Russia have cooperated in the past. The disposal of Assad's chemical weapons was a successful operation by all three.

Carter emphasized that the military talks should go on with parallel diplomatic talks. The tasks of defeating the Islamic State and reaching a political solution should happen at the same time. One huge problem is that there is a disconnect with the transitional political groups set up by the west, many secular, and the mainly jihadist groups on the ground. The latter are not likely to pursue any political solution before the defeat of Assad, and any political solution reached without their agreement will be unenforceable.

Russia appears to be reinforcing its support for the Assad regime as it seemingly loses some ground against the rebels. The refugee crisis appears to be putting pressure on the west to stop the war and find a political solution if possible. Russia wants its ally to be in a relatively strong position when negotiations take place. This would explain the buildup described in the Wall Street Journal:Defense officials said over the past two weeks Russia has stepped up development of an airfield near the port city of Latakia by sending in housing for up to 2,000 people, attack and transport helicopters, artillery, tanks and armored personnel carriers. The jets, believed to be Sukhoi Su-27s, which are designed for air-to-air combat, could be used to challenge U.S. planes flying over Syria or to help Syrian forces defending the Assad regime.The buildup could also be used as a means of deterring the U.S. from any move to attack the Assad regime directl,y as rebels have long been urging. Given the Russian experience in Afghanistan and US experience in Iraq, the Russians may not want "boots on the ground" in Syria but will follow US policy of having special forces, trainers, and advisers. However, the Russians did say if Syria requested troops it would consider sending them. The Russians claim their military build-up is purely defensive.

Planned Syrian Safe Zone still not clearly defined

Ever since the U.S. and Turkey announced an agreement that would see Turkey fight the Islamic State(IS) and grant the U.S. use of a Turkish air base to launch attacks, there has also been talk of a "safe zone" in northern Syria along the Turkish border.

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The zone is to be a little more than 60 miles long. Now many weeks later it is still not clear who will be in power in the zone, how it can be kept safe, or even how it can happen given that both Turkey and the U.S. have ruled out using ground troops. Rebel groups will be the proxy force used to capture and run the zone. However, Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front has ruled out any cooperation with the plan and announced it will withdraw from its front lines with IS in the area. The Front is angry at the continued U.S. bombing of its positions. It has also attacked U.S.-trained rebels who now have refused to fight back against the group. Many rebel groups are incensed that the U.S. attacks the Front. It is not only battling with IS but also contributes key fighters against Assad in many areas.

Originally it was thought the zone would include a lot of IS territory but more recently suggestions are that more of the safe zone will border areas controlled by Kurds. This seems incongruous because Kurds are fighting the IS and Kurdish-controlled areas are relatively peaceful. There seems no need for a buffer zone between their areas and Turkey. Such a safe zone would become part of the Turkish battle against the Kurds. It is not clear that the U.S. would cooperate in creating such a zone. Many local people in areas rumoured to be in the "safe zone" regard talk of the zone as empty promises that will not work. They see a continued bombing campaign.

Analyst Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut agrees with the locals: “I don’t think we will see anything approaching what even resembles a safe zone. If you’re going to have significant numbers of people sheltering in the zone, you’ll need various things — like electricity, fuel, water tanks, piping, clinics.” Neither Turkey nor the U.S. are drawing up plans for these large humanitarian and reconstructions projects. Instead they are launching a PR campaign for what he claims is an unworkable project.

According to international law safe zones are neutral areas where civilians are guaranteed protection. American officials envision a zone 68 miles long and 40 miles deep that would reach the outskirts of Aleppo. It would be a staging area for US-backed rebels to attack the Islamic State. This would obviously not be a safe zone as ordinarily understood. The plan also ignores that there are few US-backed rebels left. Most rebel groups receive no U.S. aid and are not on good terms with the US since the rebels main aim is not to fight IS or the Nusra Front but Assad forces.

The U.S. officials said the zone would not be declared a protected area. Turkey wanted the zone to serve as a refuge for Syrian refugees and prevent the continued influx of refugees into Turkey itself. If rebel attacks are being launched from the zone refugees would hardly be safe from attack.

Turkey wants part of the zone to be policed by a radical Islamist group, Ahrar al-Sham, that cooperates with the Nusra Front. The U.S. is unlikely to agree to this. Aaron Stein of the Atlantic Council Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East says:“The plan is nebulous. The area is huge; it’s not well-defined. There may be local governance structures set up” in the zone but it’s not a textbook safe zone.”Given that the area will be a staging ground for attacks on IS, the role of organizations providing aid to refugees will be complicated. Refugees will no doubt continue to flood into Turkey to avoid what will be a battle zone. The appended video has U.S. officials denying there is even any agreement on the zone in contrast to reports from Turkey.

The outlines of the zone have been talked about since late in July. The original plan involved driving the IS out of a 68-mile-long area west of the Euphrates River into the province of Aleppo. The area would come under control of the Syrian opposition. Clearly it is not a "safe zone." The area would not be a no-fly zone but the US has already announced that it will attack any group that attacks US-trained rebel groups. However, those troops are few in number at present and obviously other rebel groups would be required to control the area. The plan would result in IS losing control of all border crossings into Turkey and help stop the influx of foreign fighters. The plan could also bring the U.S. in direct conflict with Assad forces should the US defend the area against Assad bombing or other attacks.