After years of the US arming and supporting the various Syrian rebels,
they could quickly become a big problem, and a heavily armed enemy, as
the rebel commanders say they are ready to join Turkey’s oft-threatened invasion of Syrian Kurdistan.
The US has opposed a Turkish invasion of this area, and has kept
American ground troops there to try to deter Turkey. Turkey has made
clear they intend to ultimately carry this operation out, however, and
they’ll have some 14,000 rebels with them.
This was always going to be an issue because Turkey has a problem with
the Kurds. That the US-backed Kurdish invasion of ISIS territory left
them in control of historical Arab territory has also got the rebels
seeing this as an opportunity to get some land.
Kurdish officials are urging international intervention to keep Turkey
out, saying they believe that the Erdogan government will invade the
first chance they get without something preventing them from doing so.
Syrian Rebels Ready to Join Turkish Invasion of Syrian Kurdistan
14,000 rebels would join Turkish military in operation
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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