Wednesday, September 19th., 2018
Turkey Should Revive Ties With Assad to Stop US Buildup in Syria – Observers
©
AFP 2018 / BULENT KILIC
To
prevent the creation of an autonomous Kurdish entity in northern Syria
by US-backed Kurdish militias and to solve the Idlib issue, Ankara needs
to revive working relations with the Syrian government, Turkish
political observers told Sputnik, commenting on Washington's alleged
attempts to boost its positions to the east of the Euphrates.
Ankara
should establish coordination with Damascus to upset Washington's plans
to beef up its presence east of the Euphrates River, Turkish political
observers said.
He underscored that Ankara was seeking to prevent the US from strengthening its positions
in northern Syria through supporting Kurdish formations in the region.
"I think that the US will not succeed in this," the Turkish political
scientist opined.
For his part, Ceyhun Bozkurt, a Turkish political observer,
journalist and the author of "Vizesiz Muttefik" ("A Visa-free Ally"),
suggested that the US would continue implementing its Syrian strategy
despite the Turkey-led operations in the north.
"We see that the presence of the United States in the territories east of the Euphrates is growing every day," Bozkurt emphasized. "From the very beginning of the Syrian civil war the US' primary goal was to form a corridor stretching from the north of Iraq through the northern part of Syria to the Mediterranean. The Syrian part of this corridor, according to Washington's plan, was to be formed by the PYD and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG)."
The political observer explained that Ankara's Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch had spoiled the US' game.
According
to the journalist, the US is making attempts to preserve the structure
that they had created in Manbij and to the east of the Euphrates.
He opined that Washington sought to divert Turkey's attention
from Manbij in order to strengthen its positions to the east of the
Euphrates in case of an attack by the Turkish Armed Forces. Bozkurt
believes that the US needs this to push ahead with the creation of an
autonomous Kurdish region during the future negotiations on Syria.
"This idea has been inculcated into the local public for some time," he said. "The United States thereby says: to resolve the Syrian issue, this region should become autonomous. The deployment of new American bases is precisely aimed at ensuring the security of this autonomous region in the future. Naturally, such actions can have very serious negative consequences for Turkey."
He pointed out that to tackle this threat, Turkey needs to maintain cooperation with Russia and Iran within the framework of the Astana negotiations on Syria, to convince its allies and Iraq to confront the PYD and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and, most importantly, to establish working relations with Damascus.
The views and opinions expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
"The US is trying to expand its zone
of influence, in particular, in the territories east of the Euphrates,"
Ozdemir Akbal, a political scientist and foreign affairs analyst, told Sputnik Turkey.
"Of course, such actions by Washington do not meet the interests
of Turkey. Obviously, disagreements continue to simmer
in Turkish-American relations, and this is primarily due to the fact
that the US has not abandoned its policy of supporting the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) [which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey]."
©
AFP 2018 / Mohamed al-Bakour
"We see that the presence of the United States in the territories east of the Euphrates is growing every day," Bozkurt emphasized. "From the very beginning of the Syrian civil war the US' primary goal was to form a corridor stretching from the north of Iraq through the northern part of Syria to the Mediterranean. The Syrian part of this corridor, according to Washington's plan, was to be formed by the PYD and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG)."
The political observer explained that Ankara's Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch had spoiled the US' game.
"Even James Jeffrey, the United States special
representative for Syria engagement, admitted that they wanted the
formation of the Manbij-Afrin line, which ran through the west
of al-Bab, but Operation Olive Branch nipped this plan in the bud,"
Bozkurt said.
©
Sputnik / Alexander Tarasenkov
"This idea has been inculcated into the local public for some time," he said. "The United States thereby says: to resolve the Syrian issue, this region should become autonomous. The deployment of new American bases is precisely aimed at ensuring the security of this autonomous region in the future. Naturally, such actions can have very serious negative consequences for Turkey."
He pointed out that to tackle this threat, Turkey needs to maintain cooperation with Russia and Iran within the framework of the Astana negotiations on Syria, to convince its allies and Iraq to confront the PYD and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and, most importantly, to establish working relations with Damascus.
"Until now, contacts between Ankara and Damascus have been maintained due to Russia's mediation," the political observer underscored. "However, the resolution of the Idlib problem
and the situation in the territories to the east of the Euphrates
requires the establishment of a direct dialogue between the parties. The
situation of uncertainty should be eliminated as soon as possible."
Relations between Ankara and Damascus have deteriorated since the
beginning of the Syrian civil war. Although the Turkish leadership has
recently somewhat softened its stance towards Damascus and Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, the two sides do not have diplomatic ties.
For its part, the Syrian government regards Turkey's presence, let alone
military operations, on its territory as illegitimate.The views and opinions expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.