Turkey Launches Military Operations in Northeast Syria
Turkish ground and air forces invaded northeastern Syria on October 8, aiming to establish a safe zone roughly 32 kilometers deep into Syria. Turkey’s stated goals for this operation are twofold: to establish an area to where the roughly 3.5 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey can return but, primarily, to fight and eliminate perceived threats such as the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that operate in the area. Since 1984, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Turkey-based Kurdish seperatist organization, has been fighting against the Turkish government to establish an independent Kurdish state. Turkey views the PKK as a terrorist organization, and the Turkish government, believing Syrian Kurds to be allied with the PKK, views them as a threat as well.
The Turkish operation was first announced on October 6 by President Donald Trump, who declared that not only was a Turkish invasion imminent but also that U.S. special forces would withdraw from the area so as to not get in the way of the incoming Turkish forces. The bipartisan condemnation of this move in the United States was swift, with lawmakers decrying Trump’s seeming abandonment of Kurdish allies and noting the regional effects of the decision. Of primary concern to many is the fate of the Islamic State amid the increasing chaos within Syria. Although the Islamic State (ISIS) had been territorially defeated, U.S. officials, Kurdish forces, and other military actors in Syria have stated that ISIS is on the rise again. They are also concerned for the security of Kurdish-operated prisons containing roughly 11,000 ISIS prisoners and in refugee camps such as al-Hol, which has a population of about 70,000. As Kurdish forces rush to resist the Turkish advance, concerns abound that these prisoners could escape and begin to rebuild ISIS.
The Turkish invasion on October 8 began with an air and artillery bombardment across the Turkish-Syrian border, chiefly targeting the towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyd. The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated on October 12 that military forces had captured Ras al-Ayn. Turkish-supported Syrian forces are engaged in these operations as well, with their forces pushing towards the towns of Manbij and Qamilishi, the latter being the de facto capital of Kurdish-controlled Syria. Within three days of the invasion, the United Nations’ Humanitarian Affairs Office stated that the violence had displaced 100,000 people. Casualty claims are being reported as well, with the Turkish government claiming that 415 “terrorists” had been killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported an additional 21 civilian deaths, including those of 6 children.
Regional condemnation of the Turkish invasion came swiftly. The secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said in a statement that Turkey’s operations were an “invasion of an Arab state’s land and an aggression on its sovereignty.” Meanwhile, the Iraqi and Lebanese foreign ministers immediately called for the Arab League to reinstate Syria as a member of the organization. U.A.E. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that “we call for the exit of Turkey and its forces, as well as all foreign forces that have violated this Arab country—and to push for a successful political solution.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Operation Peace Spring was done in order to fight against “PKK/YPG and Daesh (ISIS) terrorists” in order to prevent the formation of a “terror corridor” along Turkey’s southern border. Due to Turkey’s interests in wanting to prevent the rise of a powerful Kurdish force, it is doubtful that international condemnation will force an end to this operation.