[News] Turkiye masses troops on Syria border, invasion 'imminent': Report

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Turkiye masses troops on Syria border, invasion 'imminent': Report

US officials warn that a 'cross border operation is imminent' as Turkiye
amasses its troops on its southern border

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

DEC 17, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/turkiye-masses-troops-on-syria-border-invasion-imminent-report
(Photo credit: Aris Messinis, AFP)

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) announced the start of an
operation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the
northern Syrian town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) on 17 December.

The announcement came in the midst of a build-up of Turkish troops on the
Syrian border in preparation for a possible invasion alongside its proxies
in the SNA.

*Al Mayadeen's* correspondent stated
<https://www.almayadeen.net/news/politics/%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B6%D8%AF--%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%AF--%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8---%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%81>
that “Turkiye wants a security belt 30 kilometers wide on the border with
Syria,” stressing that it “is close to achieving its goal.”

The Turkish military has built a concrete barrier between Kobani and the
Turkiye border, while Turkish warplanes can be seen flying above the city.

The US media has reported that Turkiye is building up its forces along the
border in preparation for a possible invasion.

*The Wall Street Journal* (WSJ) reported
<https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-fears-military-buildup-by-turkey-signals-preparations-for-incursion-into-syria-1c2e88e9>
that according to one US official, “A Turkish cross-border operation could
be imminent.”

The WSJ adds that SNA fighters and Turkish uniformed commandos and
artillery in large numbers are now concentrated near Kobani, a
Kurdish-majority city in Syria on the northern border with Turkiye.

Turkiye began building up its forces near the border two weeks ago as
militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a UN-designated terror group,
toppled the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and occupied the
capital, Damascus.

Kurdish forces under the People's Protection Units (YPG) began taking
control of Kurdish-majority areas in Syria in 2012, with the outbreak of
war in 2011.

Turkiye has sought to prevent Kurds from forming contiguous regions in
areas of Syria on its southern border, stretching from Afrin in the
northwest to Kobani in the north center and to Hasaka in the northeast.

Turkiye first supported ISIS and then sent its own forces to invade
northern Syria multiple times to prevent such a Kurdish region from being
established.

The US military partnered with the YPG to create the Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF) in 2015. The US and SDF occupied land outside of traditional
Kurdish control, including Sunni Arab areas containing Syria's oil fields
and wheat-producing regions.

The US has been trying to keep Syria partitioned, under sanctions, and
unable to rebuild since the war ended in 2019.

Kurdish official Ilham Ahmed urged President-elect Donald Trump to prevent
a new Turkish invasion.

Turkiye's goal is to “establish de facto control over [Kurdish] land before
[Donald Trump] take[s] office, forcing [the US] to engage with them as
rulers of [Kurdish] territory,” Ahmed wrote to Trump in a letter viewed by
the WSJ. “If Turkey proceeds with its invasion, the consequences will be
catastrophic.”

A spokesman for Turkiye's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond
to the WSJ's requests for comment.
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