CAIRO – 10 October 2019: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spat in the face of the international community and abased international laws as he launched a military offensive into Syria on Wednesday, just days after President Donald Trump's administration announced that US troops would leave the border area.
Speaking at an AK Party Provincial meeting, Erdogan said that this issue has been on his agenda for a while.
He has ordered his military into northeast Syria in a bid to create a demographic change through cleansing an area of 30-40km deep into Syria of its Kurdish local inhabitants, men, women and children.
Egypt, France, Britain, Germany, and most Arab countries, lashed out at Erdogan.
US Senator Lindsay Graham has said he is leading a bipartisan effort to impose “severe sanctions against Turkey for their invasion.”
Graham and Sen. Chris Van Hollen released a sanctions bill that would target the U.S. assets of Erdogan and other top Turkish officials, sanction international military transactions to Turkey, restrict Turkish officials' visas to the United States, and prohibit most U.S. military assistance to Turkey.
“Most members of Congress believe it would be wrong to abandon the Kurds, who have been strong allies against ISIS,” Graham said.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has issued a statement, together with the Greek and Cypriot leaders, condemning the "illegal and illegitimate Turkish military operation in Syria,” and warning against any Turkish attempts to undermine the territorial integrity of Syria.
The Egyptian leader has prevented the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood, which has deep links with the Turkish regime, from driving the country into the brink of destruction and terrorist groups, which are being supported by the Turkish regime, from expanding.
Erdogan has been meddling in the affairs of Arab countries such as Libya, Yemen and Syria, not to mention undermining the sovereignty of countries like Iraq, as he long began an operation to hit Kurdish targets in Iraqi territory.
Furthermore, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, the aim is to establish permanent military bases in north-east Syria, a copy-and-paste job from Turkish permanent bases in northern Iraq.
According to the Independent, “in his bid to hinder the Kurds’ efforts to create an autonomous entity on Turkey’s borders, a plan which has Iran and Russia’s blessing for now, Erdogan’s aim is to instead build some kind of “Turkish autonomy” on Syrian soil.”
According to political and security experts, eliminating the Kurds is like giving Turkey the key to ISIS prison cell.
A senior Kurdish official has warned that ISIS terrorists could break out of prisons in northeast Syria as fighting intensifies between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey.
Badran Jia Kurd told Egypt Today in an interview that the Turkish invasion in Turkey only serves the interests of Ankara, Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist organizations.
“The Turkish project is a settlement, occupation and expansion project in the region,” he added.
According to Kurd, this offensive will reduce and weaken the guarding system for ISIS militants in the prisons, “which could lead to their escape or to behaviors that may get out of the control of the security forces.”
“The number of forces guarding the prisons is reduced the more the battles intensify. This poses a grave danger,” he told Reuters in an interview.
The SDF holds thousands of ISIS fighters in prisons and tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.. With the Kurdish YPG militia at its forefront, the SDF defeated jihadists in swathes of north and east Syria with U.S. help including ground forces and air power.
In his interview with Egypt Today, Badran Jia Kurd answered several questions regarding the Turkish invasion in Syria;
- Why do you think Erdogan launched this military operation in Syria?
This Turkish invasion has several purposes that only serve the Turkish and political Islamist interests, not to mention supporting extremist and terrorist groups. As you can see, there is a clear Arab rejection against this invasion, and there are not supporting bodies behind the invasion, therefore, this means that it only serves extremism, terrorism and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Turkish regime wants to revive and revive the extremist groups that were eliminated by the SDF in March, it is trying to reproduce these organizations and use them in the Syrian scene to strengthen the influence of his country, which weakened after the fall of a number of Syrian cities, including Aleppo, Daraa and Ghouta.
- Did the SDF withdraw? Or will they resist?
Our forces did not withdraw and are still in position. We have managed to defend many land assaults by the Turkish army, mercenaries and terrorists, and they were forced to withdraw. We will keep resisting and fighting, and this is our decision, our forces will sacrifice everything to protect the residents of these areas against the Turkish invasion.
- What is your message to the international community and the Arab League after the violent assault by Turkey?
We appreciate the stand of countries that support us and reject the Turkish invasion, however, we want the international community to translate condemnations into actions and not to stand silent before the fascist Turkish state that seeks to destroy what remains of Syria. And we ask the Arab League to intervene and put a stop to this Turkish aggression.
- Do you contact the government in Damascus to repel the Turkish aggression?
We are in contact with Damascus to coordinate in repelling the Turkish aggression and attack because we consider ourselves part of Syria despite the outstanding political differences.
- Why do you think Erdogan targeted prisons that hold ISIS terrorists? And what are the dangers of the Turkish invasion?
The Turkish artillery targeted prisons where the most dangerous ISIS terrorists are located. The shelling was intended to create a distraction and disrupt the security system in these prisons, to help the terrorists escape.
- How serious is the Turkish aggression against Syria on the security and stability of the region?
Any Turkish aggression against the region is a destabilization of the region's security and stability, and chaos will spread in the areas adjacent to Syria, because chaos can not be confined to one region, especially the areas that have defeated terrorism. This will definitely bring serious chaos to the region.
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