Turkey must go it alone with an operation against Kurdish militias in north and northeast Syria, as the United States is simply playing for time by negotiating over the creation of a safe zone, Turkish columnist Tunca Bengin wrote for Milliyet newspaper on Monday.

Turkish forces have spent weeks massing on the Syrian border across from autonomous regions controlled by predominantly Kurdish governments and militias.

The Kurdish forces, led by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its multi-ethnic affiliate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are viewed by Ankara as terrorist groups due to their links to Kurdish militants fighting for self-rule within Turkey.

The United States has fought alongside both the YPG and SDF against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, and the U.S. Congress is unwilling to leave its Syrian Kurdish allies exposed to Turkish attack, despite President Donald Trump’s December call for a full withdrawal.

Months of negotiations led by U.S. special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey on the creation of a safe zone to avoid conflict have led to nothing concrete. Turkey’s demand for a 30-km zone south of the border patrolled by Turkish troops is unacceptable to the Kurdish side, which wants a far smaller safe zone patrolled by international forces.

The negotiation process is clearly an effort by Washington to play for time, allowing Kurdish forces to strengthen and bring in other actors including France and Britain to support them, wrote Bengin.

Since the safe zone offered by the United States would work against Turkey’s security, a military operation is inevitable, said the columnist.

That operation should be launched as soon as possible despite the likelihood that this will spur sanctions, Bengin quoted retired general Naim Babüroğlu as saying.

Turkey faces possible U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian missile defence systems, which Washington says could harm NATO defences. The U.S. Congress has pushed for sanctions, but Trump is said to favour seeking a deal with Turkey.

The military operation is likely to be launched near Tel Abyad, a Syrian border town near where six Turkish brigades have amassed, Babüroğlu said.

It will be accompanied by a parallel operation against Kobani, another Kurdish-held border town northwest of Tel Abyad.

This month Mazlum Kobane, a leading SDF commander, told Ahval that in the event of an attack some 100,000 troops could be mustered to retaliate along the 600 km of frontier separating the two sides.

But U.S. troops would not take their places alongside the Kurdish forces in defence of the region, Babüroğlu said.

Their assistance would be limited to providing intelligence and other forms of support to their Kurdish allies, he said.



