Kurds Criticize Damascus’ ‘Silence’ over Turkish Attacks

Installations at the Al-Suwaidiya oil field show severe damage following an alleged Turkish airstrike with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that - according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - targeted the plant in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, 06 October 2023. (EPA)
Installations at the Al-Suwaidiya oil field show severe damage following an alleged Turkish airstrike with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that - according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - targeted the plant in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, 06 October 2023. (EPA)
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Kurds Criticize Damascus’ ‘Silence’ over Turkish Attacks

Installations at the Al-Suwaidiya oil field show severe damage following an alleged Turkish airstrike with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that - according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - targeted the plant in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, 06 October 2023. (EPA)
Installations at the Al-Suwaidiya oil field show severe damage following an alleged Turkish airstrike with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that - according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - targeted the plant in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, 06 October 2023. (EPA)

Kurdish parties and political organizations in Syria called on the Arab League to intervene and deter Turkish attacks against Syrian territories.

The Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), strongly condemned the “Turkish aggression” on regions in northeastern Syria.

In a statement on Friday, it said Turkish fighter jets and drones carried out a series of attacks “with unprecedented hostility” on energy and vital installations.

Türkiye has said it was carrying out strike on northern and northeastern Syrian in retaliation to an attack in its capital Ankara on Sunday that was claimed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Prominent Kurdish official in northeastern Syria Fawza Youssef described the Turkish attacks as a war crime and flagrant violation of United Nations treaties.

It held the Syrian government responsible for protecting state borders and its airspace from Turkish attacks.

The foreign relations department at the Kurdish autonomous administration that runs northeastern Syria called on the international community, United States and Russia to take “clear and honest” stances, otherwise Türkiye's actions will create “chaos and catastrophic crises.”

In the past 48 hours, Turkish drones struck 52 military and civilian locations in northeastern Syria, including 19 infrastructure structures, 22 residential buildings, and eleven military positions.

They also targeted five locations that are held by Syrian troops.

Seven members of the military and four civilians have been killed.

Turkish drones also struck 19 positions in Qamishli city in Hasakeh, 12 locations in Hasakeh, three in Ain Arab city in the Aleppo countryside and 14 in the al-Shahbaa regions in the northern Aleppo countryside.

Youssef told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Turkish attacks are a “continuation of the genocide against the Kurds and peoples of the region.”

She added that the attacks are aimed a displacing the people and emptying them of their original residents “in order to achieve Türkiye’s expansionist ambitions.”

Ankara has stressed that its attacks are strictly targeting terrorist Kurdish organizations that are active in the region.



Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Türkiye believes Syria's new rulers, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive Kurdish YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in northeastern Syria, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.

Türkiye regards the Syrian YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

The YPG spearheads an alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is backed by the United States and controls territory in northeastern Syria. Since the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs have fought against the SDF, seizing the city of Manbij.

"We believe that the new leadership in Syria and the Syrian National Army, which is an important part of its army, along with the Syrian people, will free all territories occupied by terrorist organizations," Guler said during a visit to Turkish troops on the Syrian border with military commanders.

"We will also take every necessary measure with the same determination until all terrorist elements beyond our borders are cleared," he said in a video released by his ministry.

Ankara has demanded the Syrian Kurdish fighters disband, and has called on Washington to withdraw its support. The US military acknowledged last week it has 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria, twice as many as it had said previously.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye would do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if Syria's new administration was unable to address its concerns.