ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warned Friday that Turkey’s fresh threat to invade the city of Kobane is “very serious,” calling on the United Nations (UN) and humanitarian organizations to prevent a Turkish incursion from inflicting mass displacement and demographic change on the Kurdish enclave.
November 1 is the International Day of Solidarity with Kobane, in commemoration of the first major Kurdish victory over Islamic State (ISIS) in the city in 2014.
On Friday - the fifth anniversary of the victory - the SDF appealed in a statement to the UN and humanitarian NGOs “to provide humanitarian support, showing solidarity with resistant Kobani, rejecting attempts to harm its symbolism, threatening its people to displace and changing the demography of the region in favour of racist regional agendas towards the indigenous people.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his forces plan to invade Kobane after capturing the two Kurdish-populated towns of Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) and Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) in northern Syria, as part of their ongoing Operation Peace Spring against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), who form the backbone of the SDF.
“We have been promised [by Russians] to clear Manbij from the YPG. They said that it has been cleared,” Erdogan told his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary meeting on Wednesday.
“Is this enough? No it is not. We have to take another important step. We are going towards, of course, Tel Rifaat and its east, Kobane or what used to be known as Ain al-Arab," referring to the city’s Syrian government-ordained name. "This has to be cleared from the terrorists as well and we have to control it.”
The multi-ethnic, US-allied SDF warned on Friday of the consequences of a Turkish offensive on the town.
“We assure to the public opinion that Turkish threat is very serious towards Kobani and any attack on it will mean the revival of the terrorist organization ISIS and giving it a favorable opportunity to rearrange its loyalists and supporters,” said the SDF.
ISIS attacked Kobane in September 2014 but faced strong resistance from the YPG and supporting forces - including fighters from the so-called Syrian Free Army now working in collaboration with the Turkish army. The US-led international coalition also supported local fighters by conducting airstrikes on ISIS targets.
After four months of conflict and the displacement of 130,000 people, Kurdish forces were able to drive ISIS out.
A fortnight ago, Turkey signed a deal with the US to temporarily pause its operation, giving Kurdish fighters a five-day window in which to leave Sari Kani and Gire Spi.
When announcing the deal in Ankara on October 17, US Vice President Mike Pence said Turkey had agreed “to engage in no military action against the community of Kobane.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has since renewed Washington's call for Turkish forces to adhere to the agreement.
On October 22, Turkey made a deal with Russia in Sochi to give the SDF a 150-hour deadline to abandon the Syria-Turkey border. The SDF’s withdrawal from the length of the border was confirmed by Russia on Tuesday.
Following an eleventh-hour deal with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in mid-October, the SDF allowed Syrian government troops and weaponry to enter Kobane to join them in the fight against Turkey and its Syrian proxies. Russian troops then entered the city on October 23, one day after the Russia-Turkey deal.
As per the deal, both Turkey and Russia will conduct joint border patrols. They conducted their first land patrol on Friday in Darbasiyah region, east of the Euphrates, according to a statement from the Turkish defense ministry.
In addition to driving out Kurdish fighters considered terrorists by Turkey due to their alleged link to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels over the northern border, Ankara wants to establish a “safe zone” in northern Syria to resettle millions of refugees who have fled to Turkey over the course of the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011.
Set to span the length of the Turkey-Syria border, the planned zone has a depth of 32 kilometers. However, Erdogan also told his AKP lawmakers on Wednesday that they may deepen the zone if deemed fit.
“We will give a drastic response to any attack coming from outside of the safe zone [in northern Syria] and we will expand our safe zone area if needed,” he said.
