Large numbers of Turkish troops and equipment entered Idlib province Syria in late February

(February 23) According to the Syrian Observatory for Human rights just in the past 19 days 2,700 Turkish military vehicles have gone into Syria along with 7,400 troops during the same time period. On Saturday alone a Turkish convoy of 80 vehicles entered Idlib.

Turkey wants to reverse recent gains by Assad forces

Recently the Syrian army has made significant territorial gains in Idlib province and also the Aleppo area as noted in a recent article.

Turkish president Recep Erdogan has been demanding that the Syrian army withdraw from territory it has recently recovered. In a recent speech on TV in Istanbul Erodgan said: "Until the regime’s [Syrian government] forces pull out beyond the borders [of the Idlib de-escalation zone] outlined in the Sochi agreement, the problem will not be solved. If they do not leave, we will do this work without waiting until the end of February."

Erdogan has warned that he would retaliate vigorously if any Turkish troops were killed as the Syrian advance supported by Russian air operations. He has retaliated and there are dangers of the war spreading and intensifying as the Turks come into direct conflict with the Russians as well as the Syrian army. The Turks seem determined to provide support for the remaining rebels who are bunched up in the Idlib governorate their last major stronghold. The main group in control of much of the rebel area is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HYT) linked to Al-Qaeda.

Turks say they are peacekeepers but some call it an invasion

While the Turks consider their entrance into Syria a peacekeeping mission, Syria and its supporters could see it as an outright invasion to help the radical rebel groups from being defeated and stop Syria from retaking its territory. This is the second Turkish incursion into Syria in the past several months. A number of troops were sent to Kurdish territory to create a buffer safe zone along the border with Turkey.

In other Syria news, the Israelis confirmed an air attack on Damascus. According to a war monitor six people were killed in the attack. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) confirmed Monday that two of its members were killed in the Israeli raid on Damascus Sunday night.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Turkey with rebel allies prepare for offensive against Kurds in Syria

About 20,000 members of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) along with Turkish troops who support them are reported to be massing for a new military operation in the Afrin region of northwestern Syria.

The region is under control of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) according to the Turkish newspaper Sabah. The YPG are regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey but at key allies in the battle against the Islamic State by the United States. The first targets of the operation are said to be the town of Tall Rigat and the nearby Minaq airbase the newspaper claims. The offensive is to be launched from Idlib westward and Azaz, Kaljibrin and Marea eastward. Turkey is said to be consulting with Moscow on the operation. On Sunday Turkish President Recep Tayyip is to hold talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The Afrin area is located in the province of Aleppo and belongs to what the Kurds consider the autonomous area of Rojava in the north of Syria. Back in late August of 2016 Turkish forces together with their Free Syrian Army with US-led coalition air support cleared out the Islamic State from the town of Jarabulus on the border and also from the surrounding areas. The operation was called the Euphrates Shield. Both the Kurds and the Assad regime were critical of the operation. After Jarabulus was retaken the offensive continued to the southwest. The city of al-Bab was taken. The campaign ended March 29 and the goals of the operation were said to be met.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said: "Afrin needs to be cleared of terrorists with regard to both Turkey's security and the region's security. Turkey is continuing to work with its counterparts to achieve this end. Otherwise nobody can guarantee the security of Azaz, Mare, al-Bab and Idlib. Turkey's diplomatic efforts are continuing to this end." The terrorists in this case are the YPG not the Islamic State. The Turks are said to have moved long-range artillery into the region.

A Syrian Kurdish YPG commander, Sipan Hemo, claims that they want to "liberate" the area between Azaz and Jarablus that is held by the FSA backed by Turkish troops. Hemo did not give any details of the YPG plan or say when it would begin. Although the Turkey-backed rebels seized the area from the Islamic State Hemo said he regarded Turkey as an occupying force in the area. Hemo's statement was distributed on a social network feed by Naser Manour a senior official in the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG is a key component of the SDF. There was already an exchange of fire between Turkey and the YPG near Azaz last Tuesday, Turkey claims it is sending more troops, vehicles and equipment into the area in preparation for its own offensive. Kurdish officials warn that any attack on the area by the Turks and its allies will distract from their offensive against Raqqa still held mostly by the Islamic State.

Eleven Kurds killed in Turkish strike in Syria

( April 29) Turkish president Recep Erdogan claimed that the Turkish southern border region with Syria had come under mortar fire the last two days and Turkish forces were responding as necessary.

There haS been nearly continuous fire across the Syria Turkey south-east border ever since Turkey had attacked Kurdish targets in both Syria and Iraq earlier in the week as shown on the appended video. The Turkish military reported 11 Kurdish "terrorists" killed. There were no reports of Turkish casualties. Turkey considers members of the YPG or People's Defence Units to be terrorists whereas the US considers them key allies in the fight against the Islamic State(IS). Erdogan complained at a conference in Istanbul, that US support for YPG fighters within Syria was damaging solidarity between the US and Turkey. However, he said that relations could change under president Trump. Erdogan said: "We will continue to take any measures as long as the threats persist... We will not allow efforts to form a terror corridor at our southern border."

The US has been complaining that Turkey has been carrying out attacks without any coordination with their coalition partners. This is very problematic for the Pentagon since it has US special forces embedded with the YPG both in operations against the IS and in training missions. The US is also concerned that the Turkish attack on Kurds will undermine the battle against the IS in both Syria and Iraq.

The US has now deployed more members of their special forces along with armored vehicles along the border between Kurdish-controlled north-east Syria and Turkey. Most of the troops are around the town of Darbasiay around which there was heavy fighting with Turks earlier in the week. Although the US commanders claim they are only monitoring the situation, the local Kurds say the deployment is an attempt to create a buffer zone to limit fighting between the two sides.

There is disagreement about the exact aim of the attacks from the Turkish side, but it may cause even more tension with the US who have shown no sign of abandoning their support for the Kurds. The Turks would like to a part of a joint operation to take the city of Raqqa, the main city left in control of the IS in Syria. However, the US has showed no sign of following such a suggestion. There are more US troops apparently being sent to the Raqqa area to help the YPG in the offensive. However, some have gone to the Manbij area hoping that they wont be attacked by Turkish backed insurgents should the Turks decide to try and dislodge the Kurds. The Russians also condemned the Turkish strikes saying that they violated Syrian sovereignty as well as helping terrorists.

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.

Turkish forces kill 48 Islamic State fighters in Syrian town of al-Bab

More than four months ago, Turkish air and ground forces launched Operation Euphrates on behalf of Syrian rebels to drive Islamic State(IS) or ISIS forces from the Turkish border.

In a statement on Monday, Turkey's armed forces announced that they had killed 48 militants on Sunday. Turkish warplanes claimed to have destroyed 25 buildings and shelters used by IS. During recent weeks, the Turks have been besieging the strategic town of al-Bab. Al-Bab is the last major town held by IS in Aleppo province. Several times a week Turkey has been issuing reports claiming that dozens of IS fighters had been killed. The reports leave open the question as to exactly how many IS fighters remain in the town of about 60,000. The reports do not usually mention civilian casualties and rarely report their own casualties or those of rebels. However, on the enclosed video the Turks do report on civilian casualties.

Turkey has been asking for increased U.S. air support to help it out. The Pentagon wants to avoid increasing tensions with Turkey as it is quite dependent on the Incirlik air base for its operations in Syria. The Pentagon began air flights over the city but so far has not launched any air attacks. Already Russian airstrikes have supported the offensive in the surrounding area. The U.S. is now carrying out what it calls "aerial intelligence surveillance" in the area to help the Turkish forces. Earlier, the U.S. sent one plane over the city and called it a "show of force". The low level of support given by the U.S. compared to Russia is a sore spot for Turkey.

The Turks with their rebel allies have now taken most of the territory west of the Euphrates formerly held by the Islamic State. The territory has been handed over to a coalition of rebel forces. The U.S. is worried that the Turks will confront Kurdish YPG forces that the U.S. supports. Turkish officials say they will move on to take Manbij, a city along the Euphrates under control of the YPG.

In spite of the fact that the U.S. is now mounting a number of aerial surveillance flights, officials are said to worry about ensuring that they do not clash with Turkish or Russian flights. A defense official said: “Flying anywhere in Syria is complicated. Flying up in that area where everyone seems to be flying would require some work. I wouldn’t say we aren’t worried about it.”

The U.S. is considering sending direct weapons shipments to Kurdish YPG forces advancing on Raqqa, the IS de facto capital. The Turks consider the group a terrorist organization and are opposed to any such move. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that ceasing to cooperate with the YPG was one of two main expectations Turkey had of the United States. The other was that the U.S. would extradite Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the US, to Turkey where he would face charges that the orchestrated the recent coup attempt.

The Turkish President Recep Erdogan said that he thought that U.S.-Turkish relations would gain momentum once Trump was inaugurated on January 20. Trump's designated national security adviser Michael Flynn wrote an op-ed that the U.S. should agree to extradite Gulen and stop criticism of Turkey whom he considered a key ally. As Turkey's relations with Russia improve, under Trump Turkish relations with the United States may also show some improvement.