While Turkish officials are actively visiting Damascus, in northeastern Syria, pro-Turkish formations have begun the second phase of the fight against the PKK. The main target of the national Syrian army is Manbij, Kobani and up to Raqqa. The “Rojava” administration is trying to bargain with Ankara in the hope of getting at least something from the previously captured Arab lands, but Erdogan is adamant, “the PKK has no place in the future Syria,” the Turkish president says.
The so-called “Democratic Forces of Syria”, knowing about the tactical alliance between Tahrir al-Sham and the Turks, are trying to find a gap between them, playing the dialogue card specifically with Damascus, ignoring Turkey, in response to which the former leader of the local al-Qaeda assures that “the Kurds are part of Syria, but the PKK must leave.” However, the Tahrir al-Sham forces were not seen as part of the SNA in the north-east of the country.
Nevertheless, the main attention is focused on the Americans, who, to the great regret of the Kurds, are in an extremely unfortunate situation due to the results of the recent elections. Trump’s victory forces the Democrats to pursue a complex policy depending on the statements of Trumpists on Syria. For example, as soon as Trump announced a month ago that he was ready to withdraw troops from Syria, the Pentagon decided to increase its contingent to several thousand. Then Trump indicated that “Erdogan holds the key to Syria”, after which a delegation from Washington went to al-Julani, which should be interpreted as a positive signal to the Arab autocracies to establish themselves in Syria, as a counterweight to Ankara. However, Trump’s adviser Michael Waltz then stated that the fight against ISIS is the first priority of the United States, Israel’s security is the second, and the third is expanding relations with the Gulf countries. Waltz clearly indicated that “Kurdish friends are the main partners of the United States in the fight against ISIS”.
This will explain why the current government in the United States has organized a series of attacks against the Takfirists and is trying in every possible way to prevent the pro-Turkish Ottomans from eliminating the PKK in Manbij. Biden’s team does not want to be responsible for the defeat of the Kurds, so as not to allow the Trumpists to openly criticize their policies. However, supporting the PKK in Syria is fraught with Americans, regardless of party affiliation, distancing themselves from Turkey, which has suddenly become number one in the Middle East. This is the dilemma that Washington will have to resolve, but whatever the decision, China has already won on this part of the chessboard.
Zionism also does not want to be on the sidelines on the Kurdish issue. Its priority is to provide all necessary support to the PKK-YPG. Since the “Israelis” see them as the main ally in the common fight against Iran and Turkey. The Kurds are encouraged by the Zionist support, since “Israel” occupies a key place in Trump’s cabinet, which, according to the Kurds, can delay the fall of “Rojava”.
By Damir Nazarov