Is Erdogan all talk and no action on US-Kurdish border force?

By
Jim W. Dean
-
9
2219

Erdogan vows to ‘drown’ US-backed Syrian Border Force before it’s born, labels unit ‘terrorist army’

We hear little about the Turkish army engaging Kurdish forces inside Turkey, so why the worry about Syria?

[ Editor’s Note: Erdogan ups this threats today about pre-emptive action. This might be more dangerous for him than for the US. After all of these threats, if he does nothing, he will be viewed as a bag of hot air, something he already has a profile for, playing to domestic consumption.

The US acts like it does not care as it believes he will do nothing, and with good reason. All Turkish military action in Syria has been very low key, avoiding combat. The one time where his units were counter-attacked and lost some armor, his incursion into Syria ground to a halt.

Artillery shelling began the tool of choice, but the Turkish military kept its armor vehicles out of the range of TOWs. This shows a military fearful of incurring major combat causalities, what we historically refer to as a “pay-check” military.



Would Erdogan risk a fight with US forces over Kurds in Syria? I don’t think so.

US advisers go with SDF units, so any engagement by the Turks, say with artillery, would risk killing US troops. If such an act were retaliated by US airstikes, even on Turkish artillery units inside Turkey, where would that put Erdogan in the eyes of his people?

Is he going to start flying air cover over his own troops? How would that look? Would Erdogan take the risk of looking powerless up against US air power? Would he kick the US out of the NATO base in Turkey? Would he allow the nuclear bombs to be removed.

Would he open up this can of worms if the SDF border force were just patrolling, as a front for getting built up, trained and armed by the US, really for use against the Syrian Army?

Would Erdogan care if the Syrians and SDF got into a shooting war? I think he would buy box seats to the event and cheer on both sides while enjoying his popcorn.

What he is doing is pushing forces into position to begin an attack on Afrin, which he has threatened. But to avoid Turkish casualties it seems he will use his usual refugee camp mercenaries dressed up as FSA units, a popular costumes for US proxies in the Al Tanaf front.

Turks will shell the city from a safe range, a form of combat they prefer. This is some 20mm action above. These units will pull back before dawn, and send the FSA cannon fodder in to do the real work.

This is a dead giveaway that the Turkish Army would break and run when getting a bloody nose. This type of “fighting” make them terrified of real combat … Jim W. Dean ]

Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>

Erdogan has to be careful to not present an “All talk and no action” personna

– First published … January 15, 2018 –

The Turkish president has called US-backed Syrian Border Force using Kurdish fighters a “terrorist army,” vowing to “drown” it before it’s complete. He also added that military preparations against Kurdish-held Afrin are ready.

“Our duty is to drown this terrorist force before it is born,” the Turkish leader said on Monday, as cited by AP.

The 30,000-strong army of “traitors” that Washington seeks to create will point their guns against US troops at the first threat, Erdogan warned.

On Sunday, the US-led coalition announced it is helping to create a new Border Security Force to fight terrorists in Syria. The unit, stationed along the Syrian border with Iraq and Turkey, as well as along the Euphrates River Valley, is expected to be comprised of up to 30,000 people. Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) veterans will make half of the unit, while the other half are yet to be recruited.

Washington’s role in establishing the force was branded “unacceptable” by Turkey on Sunday. A key point of discontent here is that Ankara considers the battle-hardened part of the US-backed SDF – Kurdish YPG units – to be linked to the “terrorist” Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Military aid for the Kurds, including arms supplies, has repeatedly caused harsh criticism from Turkey, which is one of Washington’s key NATO allies.

“This is what we have to say to all our allies: don’t get between us and terrorist organizations, or we will not be responsible for the unwanted consequences,” Erdogan said, as cited by Turkish media. He added that Turkish forces will battle “until not a single terrorist remains along our borders, let alone 30,000 of them.”

Turkish troops are already deployed in Syria, as Ankara provides security across the fourth Syrian de-escalation zone in Idlib province. Despite the fact that military goals in the area have already been achieved, Erdogan vowed to launch an operation against the Kurdish-held Syrian region of Afrin in northwestern Syria. On Monday, the Turkish president reiterated the threat, saying that the operation could be imminent.

READ MORE: Turkey’s accords & ties with Washington losing validity – Erdogan

Meanwhile Turkish Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag accused the US of supporting terrorists instead of fighting them, saying it is “playing with fire” with the decision to create the security force.

“Letting the PYD/YPG – the PKK’s branch in Syria – by the US to establish a so-called terrorist army for creating a terrorist corridor in the region on the pretext of combating Daesh [Islamic State], is not a fight against Daesh and terrorist organizations, rather a support to terrorism and terrorist organizations,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag tweeted on Monday.

ATTENTION READERS

We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully Informed
In fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion.

About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy
Due to the nature of uncensored content posted by VT's fully independent international writers, VT cannot guarantee absolute validity. All content is owned by the author exclusively. Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT, other authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, or technicians. Some content may be satirical in nature. All images are the full responsibility of the article author and NOT VT.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

9 COMMENTS

  1. @Eduardo. The guarantor status was granted to Turkey after the end of WWI when Mustafa Kemal wrested it from the victorious Allies. The Committee for Union and Prograess losts the war for the Ottpmans, Mustafa Kemal won at the negotiating table. Of course, he had to let loose the Kurds on the invading Greek armies as part of the negotiations. Also he had with him damning evidence provided by the Bolsheviks of the plan to use Armenians to wrest create an Armenia and to wrest Istanbul.

    The Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds have been cannon fodder for the West. Bear in mind that the Assyrian s claim the same language as the fcanaanite founders of Jerusalem. They also, in their own circles , claim the cultural continuity. Negating them has been the objective of the pro-Zionist Western churches. As they do on the other older Christian churches, including the Orthodox, be it Greek, Russian, Armenian, Bulgarian, or any even Coptic & Ethiopian They are usex as cannon fodder.

    Israel has no such status. They don’t have any legal staus beyond the 1948 borders. As maintained by BDS, supported by the much-vilified Soros. The Russians recognize that right and use it to protect ethnic Russians where they are threatened.

  3. The Kurds were set up to be cannon fodder when the Italian missionaries (Vatican spies) decided to undermine Ottoman power by breaking away the Kurds, who were some of their most ferocious warriors after the Janissaries were disbanded. [Half the Ottoman dead in Gallipoli were Kurds]. They formalized the language of one dialect. The different dialects of Kurdish are about as similar as English is from Danish is from Dutch is from German.

  4. Sorry Eduardo, have to disagree.
    “Turkey is already teaching Turkish and Turkish history in Syrian schools in the north.” If iut is being done, it in Turcoman-populated regions. A region that was divested from Turkey by the victorious WWI allies. The terms of divestment included Turkey to be a guarantor of the rights of that population and the Syrian government to ensure continuity of their cultural heritage.

    “Neither Turkey nor USA should be in Syria at all and that is a fact.” Turket can do soas a guarantor power for segments of the local population. Similar guarantor-status enabled Turkey to move into Cyprus. Thus, even though the Ottomans lost WWI, Mustafa Kamal won at the negotiating table. Russia recognizes that right, as it works for them in the Donbass and anywhere else that there is a significant ethnic Russian population (Kazakhastan, Tatarastan).

    “This is a dead giveaway that the Turkish Army would break and run when getting a bloody nose.” Can’t seem to find the statement anymore, but Lavrov thought differently. His assessment was that they would make a very tough opponent, due to nationalist indoctrination (my word) since childhood. You guys know how the janissaries fought? Their legends are widely narrated in Turkey and are a source of inspiration.

  7. Maybe he’ll wait for them to cross his border and cry foul to NATO. Even going as far as staging a false flag. Oh another can o worms forget it, anyway war is not the answer.

  8. According to Turkish citizens I know personaly, Erdogan has accoplished more for Turkey than any head of state since the Atta Turk. Is this wrong?

Comments are closed.