29 Mar 2024
Monday 22 January 2018 - 15:46
Story Code : 290982

Kurdish Problem: Possible common ground for Ankara, Damascus, Tehran?



Sputnik- Operation Olive Branch is not the first time Ankara has resorted to military force in an attempt to untangle the Kurdish knot. The previous operation, Euphrates Shield was aimed at fighting Daesh, but it also sought to prevent Syrian Kurds from establishing an autonomous state in the north of Syria.




Turkey has launched an offensive innorthern Syria againstthe Kurdish forces Ankara considers terrorists. The operation dubbed "Olive Branch" started withairstrikes onKurdish targets inAfrin onSaturday and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed Sunday the beginning ofa ground offensive inthe area.

The situation onthe Syrian-Turkish border has become tense recently, withthe Turkish armed forces shelling the positions ofthe Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which it considers an affiliate ofthe Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated asa terrorist organization inTurkey and several other countries.

OperationOlive Branchis not the first time Turkey has used military force againstKurdish forces innorthern Syria.

Euphrates Shield

In March 2017, Turkey unexpectedly decided toend itsEuphrates Shield Operation, which kicked offon August 24, 2016 withthe proclaimed goal ofclearing the Syrian border town ofJarablus and the surrounding area fromDaesh.

Announcing the end ofthe operation, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the operation had been "successful" and this is why it was finished. In turn, the Turkish National Security Council pointed outthat the operation was successful interms ofensuring national security, including preventing the threat fromDaesh.

However, many analysts and commentators have suggested that inaddition tothe declared goal ofdefeating terrorism, the military campaign was also aimed atfighting theYPG and preventing Kurds fromuniting two their enclaves innorthwestern and northeastern Syria.

According toanalysts, Turkey failed toachieve all ofthe goals set forth inOperation Euphrates Shield.

"Turkey has been unable toachieve all ofits goals aspart ofOperation Euphrates Shield sincethe PKK and the YPG received support inthe region," Turkish security and anti-terrorism expert Abdullah Agar said inaninterviewwithSputnik inMarch 2017.

The possibility also remained that Turkey could launch a new campaign concerning the Kurdish problem, experts said.
"But this [the results ofthe Euphrates Shield] does not mean that Ankara will abandon its plans toclear Syria fromKurdish terrorists inthe long run," Volkan Ozdemir, director ofTurkeys Institute forEnergy Markets and Policies (EPPEN), commented toRBKinMarch 2017.


Kurdish Problem

Kurds control two large areas innorthern Syria. The first is the area spanning fromManbij inwestern Syria tothe Turkish border inthe north and Raqqa inthe south. The second is Afrin Canton innorthern Syria, one ofthe four cantons ofRojava, a de-facto autonomous Kurdish region established inSyria.

The Syrian Kurds wants tounite the two areas and create an autonomous state, similar toIraqi Kurdistan inIraq, where an independence referendum took place last year, which resulted inworsening tensions betweenBaghdad and the Kurdistan government.

Turkey has strongly opposed the idea ofa Syrian Kurdistan. The reason is Ankaras longtime concern that a Kurdish autonomy inSyria would inspire similar ambitions amongKurds inTurkey.

Another problem forTurkey is the fact that the Syrian Kurds are an ally ofthe United States, which has repeatedly increased differences betweenAnkara and Washington. The first US military instructors arrived totrain Kurdish units inSyria in2015 sinceWashington believed Syrian Kurds tobe the most reliable ally inthe fight againstDaesh and protecting American interests inthe region.

"Unfortunately, our friend fromNATO, the United States, continues todeliver trucks and arms tothe terrorists [YPG]. This is our source ofconcern," Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogansaid ata press conference earlier inJanuary.

Earlier this month, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that the US is planning steps towardproviding a Syrian Democratic Forces-controlled area innorthern Syria's eastern Euphrates area three times the size ofLebanon withdiplomatic recognition. Citing an unnamed senior Western official, the newspaper said that Washington is planning a set ofmeasures which would eventually lead todiplomatic recognition ofthe Kurdish area.

The issue ofKurdish autonomy is also a point ofserious concern forDamascus, asthe possible Kurdish autonomy innorthern Syria would prevent the restoration ofcountrys territorial integrity and sovereignty. It is also a problem forIran, asthe creation ofSyrian Kurdistan would risk immediately revitalizing the idea ofIranian Kurdistan.
"Turkey and the coalition ofSyria and Iran have similar interests when it comes tothe Kurdish issues. All ofthem do not want a Kurdish autonomy inSyria," Gevorg Mirzayan, Associate Professor atthe Department ofPolitical Science ofthe Finance University underthe Russian Government, wrote inananalysisinJuly 2017.



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