Turkey threatens new ethnic-cleansing invasion of Syria - analysis
Ankara vows to take over a swath of border era. Previous invasions forced Kurds and other minorities to flee. Turkey wants to re-settle the border with Syrian Arab refugees.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
Published: MAY 24, 2022
Turkey has threatened a new invasion of Syria similar to its October 2019 invasion and January 2018 invasion which resulted in the widespread ethnic cleansing of Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities. In comments this week, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was planning a new military operation. This could result in demographic change as Ankara has vowed to return Syrian refugees, who are mostly Arab, to the “safe zone” it wants to create. In the past, Ankara’s invasions led to Kurds and other minorities being persecuted and forced to flee and extremist groups took hold in Ankara-run areas.
Ankara’s far-right regime, which mixes extreme nationalism and religious fundamentalism rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood, has vowed to create a “safe zone” along the border. This is similar to the “safe zone” it created in October 2019 when it caused 200,000 people to flee and invaded eastern Syria. At the time, Ankara had close relations with the Trump administration and got the White House green light to invade and attack the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group the US supported. In a bizarre series of events, the US found itself opening the door to its “NATO ally” Turkey to attack the very people the US was also training to fight ISIS.
more............. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-707608
Ankara vows to take over a swath of border era. Previous invasions forced Kurds and other minorities to flee. Turkey wants to re-settle the border with Syrian Arab refugees.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
Published: MAY 24, 2022
Turkey has threatened a new invasion of Syria similar to its October 2019 invasion and January 2018 invasion which resulted in the widespread ethnic cleansing of Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities. In comments this week, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was planning a new military operation. This could result in demographic change as Ankara has vowed to return Syrian refugees, who are mostly Arab, to the “safe zone” it wants to create. In the past, Ankara’s invasions led to Kurds and other minorities being persecuted and forced to flee and extremist groups took hold in Ankara-run areas.
Ankara’s far-right regime, which mixes extreme nationalism and religious fundamentalism rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood, has vowed to create a “safe zone” along the border. This is similar to the “safe zone” it created in October 2019 when it caused 200,000 people to flee and invaded eastern Syria. At the time, Ankara had close relations with the Trump administration and got the White House green light to invade and attack the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group the US supported. In a bizarre series of events, the US found itself opening the door to its “NATO ally” Turkey to attack the very people the US was also training to fight ISIS.
more............. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-707608
