While the US and Russia are engaging in a growing proxy war against one another in Syria, the two nations can definitely agree on one thing, they’re both backing the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) in their fight against ISIS.
That’s got Turkey furious against both nations, with officials saying they’ve held “high-level meetings” with both to warn them that they have to stop backing the YPG, who they consider terrorists. Turkey has repeatedly “warned” the US over recent months against backing the YPG, angry that the Kurdish group is gaining such a significant territory along the border.
Turkey is concerned that the YPG’s gains will fuel secessionist sentiment among Kurds across Kurdistan, extending into southeastern Turkey. This has been a long-standing concern of Turkey, and is growing since they launched a war against the Kurdish PKK this summer.
Back in July, Turkey made clear to the US they consider the border town of Jarabulus a “red line” that the YPG mustn’t be allowed to control, and the town has remained under ISIS control even since, as the US shifted its air support toward fighting further east.
But Turkey is expressing growing concern that Russia is backing the YPG in and around Jarabulus, trying to get them the town and reduce ISIS control over territory in the Aleppo Province.
While Turkish warnings worked at shifting the US away from ISIS possessions in Aleppo, Russia seemingly has no reason to give in to their demands, with Turkey outraged at them either way, which means they may ultimately be a better ally for the YPG in Aleppo than the US would be.
Turkey has lost its compass…the US could start a civil war there in a second
Turkey has a choice to make: They can either take the stairs or the window.
Bottom line: Turkey and Russia are increasingly at loggerheads. The shooting war between NATO and Russia might well break out there. What's now a wild brawl, with everybody swinging at everybode else, could easily turn into a Putin-Assad-Kurds line-up against the rest as everybody opts for the lesser evil.
Little Erdogan has been playing with matches and now finds himself confronted by fire on all sides. As a result of the refugee crisis and subsequent European pressure to end the civil war in Syria, Russia and NATO (minus Turkey) are now aligned. The first sign was John Allen's resignation. Tuesday's announcement that the US would be supporting the new coalition of YPG, Assyrian Christian and moderate Sunni tribes (which also cooperates with Assad) in an attack on Raqqah confirmed the new alignment, as do Erdogan's yelps. Of course, the neocons, liberal interventionists, MSM and Democratic Presidential candidates have not yet received the memo, and Obama must continue pretending to oppose Russia and the retention of Assad.
But facts on the ground don't lie and neither does Erdogan's palpable fear. He now has a Hobson's choice. If he continues to support terrorists in a losing cause, and Turkish "advisors" suffer serious casualties in Syria, the Turkish army and people will not be happy. If he cooperates with Russia and NATO and seals the border, he may see even more terrorist attacks with Turkey than he has already seen, and they will be directed against the AKP. In either case, Syrian Kurds are likely to get autonomy, which may lead to additional demands from Kurds in Turkey.
Looks like Vlad threw some cold water on Erdogan's plans. "Aah, you cursed brat! Look what you've done! I'm melting, melting! Oh what a world, what a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness."
Why would Turkey have a vested interest to begin with in undermining the power of the central government in Syria, since Kurdish secessionism is as much a concern to Syria (and Iraq) as it is to Turkey? The two biggest threats to the fragile sovereignty and integrity of both Syria and Iraq today are obviously ISIS and the (Israeli-backed) Kurdish separatist movement, with ISIS acting as a kind of "foil" or "tripwire" for the advancement of Kurdish interests and control. For a good description of the extent to which the Kurdish terrorist PKK's Syrian wing has succeeded in ethnically cleansing the northeastern region of Syria, you can read the Oct 15 2015 Amnesty International report here: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE242… and https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/sy…
Turkey can drag the US into conflict over this. World War III. 🙁