A day after Kurdish officials announced a deal which would see the Syrian Army sending reinforcements into the Afrin District to help them resist a Turkish invasion, Kurdish YPG officials are now denying that any deal was made at all, while Turkey is threatening a “confrontation” if Syria dares to resist the invasion.
Turkish officials say they are fully prepared to fight the Syrian military fight alongside the war against the Kurds, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warning that nothing can stop Turkish soldiers.
Syria’s state media reported Monday morning that troops were en route to Afrin and would be there within hours. So far, however, there is no sign of them, and Turkey says that Syria hasn’t sent troops at all.
Turkey invaded Syria’s Afrin District last month and has vowed to “cleanse” the Kurdish-held parts of Syria. Since the YPG holds about 25% of Syria,and Turkey tends to install rebels in regions they’ve conquered, Syria may feel obliged to resist the invasion now, rather than wait for Turkey-backed rebels to be given all that land.
Also unclear in all of this is where the US figures. US troops are not present in Afrin, but the US is allied with both the YPG and Turkey, and has very much positioned itself against the Syrian government, demanding regime change.