Ankara
The presidents of Turkey and Russia met in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi on Tuesday, hours before a five-day cease-fire between Turkish troops and Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria was set to expire.
The talks between Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are likely to be crucial in determining arrangements along the Syrian-Turkish border, where Ankara demands a long “safe zone” cleared of Kurdish fighters.
As all the other parties jockey for control along the border, the United States was stumbling from one problem to another getting its troops out of Syria in an abrupt withdrawal ordered by President Donald Trump.
Iraq’s military said Tuesday that American forces leaving Syria did not have permission to stay in Iraq, seemingly contradicting US Defense Secretary Mark Esper who said a day earlier the forces would remain to help fight Daesh.
After the Iraqi statement, Esper said he would speak to the Iraqi defense minister on Wednesday and underlined that the US has no plans to keep the troops in Iraq “interminably” and intends to “eventually get them home.”
It seemed another instance of the US scrambling to set its policy after Trump surprised many by ordering Americans out.
The US pullout opened the door to Turkey to launch its offensive against Kurdish fighters on Oct. 9; after a storm of criticism, Washington moved to broker the cease-fire that came into effect Thursday night. Amid fears Daesh could exploit the withdrawal to recapture oil fields now in Kurdish hands, the US is considering keeping some troops in Syria to help the Kurds protect them.
Meanwhile, Russia has stepped into the void to strengthen its role as a power broker in Syria. Seeking protection after being abandoned by the Americans, the Kurds turned to the Syrian government and its main ally, Russia. The Syrian army has advanced into parts of the area, and Russia deployed its troops in some areas to act as a buffer force.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has vowed to reunite all the territory under Damascus’ rule. On Tuesday, Assad called Erdogan “a thief” and said he was ready to support any “popular resistance” against Turkey’s invasion.
“We are in the middle of a battle and the right thing to do is to rally efforts to lessen the damages from the invasion and to expel the invader sooner or later,” he told troops during a visit to the northwestern province of Idlib.
The immediate question was the fate of the US-brokered cease-fire, which was to run out at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) Tuesday evening.
Erdogan said 1,300 Syrian Kurdish fighters had yet to vacate a stretch of the border as required under the deal. He said 800 fighters had left so far. The Kurdish-led force has said it will carry out the pullout.
If it doesn’t, Erdogan warned Tuesday, “our offensive will continue from where it left off, with a much greater determination.” —AP
