ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) called on the government on Tuesday to find a peaceful solution to its dispute with Kurdish groups in northern Syria after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated his threat of military action. Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to launch a new operation in northern Syria, this time east of the Euphrates River, to remove Kurdish-led forces from its southern border, which Ankara considers a security threat. The US, Turkey’s NATO ally, which has up to 2,000 troops in northern Syria supporting Kurdish-led ground operations against the Islamic State group (ISIS), has sent delegations to Ankara to try and prevent an invasion. “The east of the Euphrates issue is a security one and, of course, we accept that,” Unal Cevikoz, deputy CHP leader, told reporters Tuesday in Ankara on Tuesday. “However, there are alternatives for the east of the Euphrates issue and we believe that the most important alternatives are a peaceful approach and dialogue.” Sezai Temelli, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), also called on the government to seek a peaceful solution with the Kurds. “If you want to establish real peace, look for a way to reconcile with Kurds rather than [establishing] peace corridors,” he said, referring to Turkish plans to establish a “safe zone” along its border with Syria. Erdogan has said a new phase of Turkish operations against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria will begin “soon”. “We’ll move the process which we started with the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations forward to a different phase very soon,” Erdogan told an audience in Ankara on Tuesday. Euphrates Shield was launched in 2016 by the Turkish Army and its Syrian militia proxies against ISIS and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to take control of Jarabulus, northwest of Aleppo. Operation Olive Branch meanwhile was launched in early 2018 to remove Kurdish forces from Afrin in the far northwest. Erdogan said the operation will not only stop migration from Syria but actually “accelerate” the return of Syrian refugees. Turkey hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees, many of whom live in impoverished urban communities. Inter-communal tensions have led to calls for deportations. “Turkey must take the initiative not only for its future but also for the peace and serenity in its region. What we recently experienced in Syria have shown us once again that you cannot have a seat at the table unless you are on the ground,” the Turkish president added, stressing they will use force “if needed” to defend Turkish national interests. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters on Tuesday that any unilateral Turkish incursion into Kurdish-controlled northern Syria would be “unacceptable”. “Clearly we believe any unilateral action by them [Turkey] would be unacceptable,” Esper told reporters as he set off for talks in Japan. “What we’re going to do is prevent unilateral incursions that would upset, again, these mutual interests... the United States, Turkey and the SDF share with regard to northern Syria.” Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – which forms the backbone of the US-backed SDF – to be an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria. Turkey has fought a decades-long conflict with the armed group, which fights for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. Aldar Khalil, head of the Relations Department of TEV-DEM, the ruling Kurdish coalition of Rojava which includes the YPG, told Rudaw on Tuesday they had approached the Syrian regime in Damascus to ask for its help to prevent a Turkish offensive. “Because the region is faced with danger, not only against itself, but against the unity of Syria, we tried to reach out to the regime through the Russians to reach an agreement through which we could protect this region,” Khalil said. He said they “have not seen a positive response so far, but we will never stop political or diplomatic efforts to prevent war and occupation”. Turkey is in talks with the US to establish a buffer zone along its southern flank with northern Syria. Ankara wants Kurdish forces to withdraw from these areas and to resettle Syrian refugees there. A senior US delegation arrived in Ankara on Monday to thrash out the terms of the safe zone and stave off a Turkish offensive. Details of the meetings are yet to be made public.
