Politics Kurds expect Turkish attack in northern Syria
According to Kurdish sources, Turkey and its allied militias are preparing an offensive against the northern Syrian border town of Kobane.
22.12.2024, 00:25
SDA
The Turkish army and its Syrian allies are sending reinforcements to the region south of the Kurdish-held city, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Farhad al Shami, told the German Press Agency. An attack on the city from the south and from the west is possible. There has been fierce fighting around the city for some time.
The SDF had made contact with the US-led coalition and the US government in order to stop the Turkish offensive, said al Shami. The SDF's commander-in-chief, Maslum Abdi, had already proposed a buffer zone for northern Syria on Tuesday. They were prepared to set up a demilitarized zone in Kobane in which security forces would be deployed under US supervision and presence. A demilitarized zone under international protection could serve as a security guarantee for the Kurds and ease Turkey's concerns about the Kurds.
Turkey is accused of wanting to use the power vacuum in Syria following the fall of ruler Bashar al-Assad to take control of the areas under the administration of Kurdish militias in the north of the country.
The Kurds and the SDF are supported by the USA, for whom the SDF are an important partner in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Turkey, on the other hand, sees the militia as an offshoot of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) - and therefore as a terrorist organization.
