Syria’s Turkmen Express Support For Ankara’s Operation Against Ypg

Syrian Turkmen Assembly, representatives of Turkmen minority in Syria, said on Wednesday they fully support Turkey’s military operation against the PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria.

Last week, Turkey postponed its planned operation against east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to coordinate with Washington while the US withdrew its troops from Syria.

The YPG, Syrian branch of PKK that is listed a terror organisation by Turkey, the US, and the EU, has been seeking for international support to prevent any possible Turkish operation against them in Syria.

TRT World‘s Yasin Eken reports.

“We, as the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, the only legitimate representatives of Syrian Turkmen, do not recognise this declaration,” said the Assembly President Muhammad Wajih Juma, referring to a letter released by pro-YPG sources that rejected Turkey’s cross-border operation.

“It is a sign of fear from the separatist terror organisation that it is using methods to sow confusion, but they have to know such tactics will not save them,” Juma said.

Preventing ‘friendly fire’ with the US
Turkey’s delay in launching the operation does not mean the country has given up on operations to be conducted in the future, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said last week.

“It doesn’t mean that we gave up on our determination and operations we will launch against the YPG in the future,” he said.

Cavusoglu said postponing the operation east of the Euphrates was a logical decision to prevent “friendly fire” in the region, after the US announced its decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

TRT World‘s Turkey analyst Yusuf Erim explains how efforts for a political solution in Syria can bring Russia and Turkey together.

Previous operations
Turkey’s planned anti-terror operation east of the Euphrates would follow two previous cross-border operations into Syria – Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch – which were both aimed at eliminating PKK-YPG and Daesh terrorists from Turkey’s borders.

The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian branch and was one of several point of contentions between Turkey and the US, since Washington had been supporting the SDF, a coalition of anti-regime forces dominated by the YPG, in the fight against Daesh in Syria.

More than 40,000 people, including women and children, have been killed since the PKK launched its violent terror campaign in Turkey in 1984.