Kurdish commander: U.S. has "moral duty" to prevent Turkish incursion in Syria - Axios

SDF Commander Gen. Mazloum Kobane Abdi. Photo: Delil Soulieman/AFP via Getty Images

The commandant of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) tells Axios the U.S. has a "moral duty" to bash much to forestall Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from ordering a crushed violative into Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.

The large picture: Turkey has launched drone, aerial and artillery strikes crossed the borderline into Syria implicit the past 4 days, with Erdoğan present promising to nonstop successful troops and tanks.

• The mostly Kurdish SDF was the astir effectual U.S. spouse successful combating ISIS successful Syria, but Erdoğan considers the militia an force and blames Kurdish groups for a Nov. 13 panic onslaught successful Istanbul. No radical has claimed work for the onslaught and the SDF and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) denied involvement.
• The SDF says 18 civilians and 4 of its soldiers person been killed successful the astir caller Turkish strikes truthful far, with much than 50 civilians injured. A CENTCOM spokesperson said connected Wednesday an airstrike connected an SDF basal posed “a hazard to U.S. troops and personnel” operating successful the area.
• Turkey, meanwhile, claims the SDF fired rockets backmost into Turkey and killed 2 people, which the SDF denies.

In an interrogation with Axios on Wednesday, SDF Commander Gen. Mazloum Kobane Abdi said that portion helium has received concerning quality that Turkey has told its section proxies to hole for a crushed offensive, the Biden medication could inactive person Erdoğan to backmost off.

• Turkey antecedently conducted a large crushed violative against the SDF successful 2019 and has threatened incursions aggregate times since without pursuing through.
• Mazloum says Turkey's strategy has been to denote an operation, behaviour immoderate preparations, past trial the reactions of the U.S. and Russia.
• "I judge erstwhile they [Turkey] see determination is nary beardown absorption from the main players they volition spell ahead," Mazloum says. "We judge the reactions are not capable yet to halt the Turks from launching this operation."

What they're saying: "The escalation successful Syria and on the Turkish-Syrian borderline successful caller days is unsafe and a menace to the information of civilians and U.S. unit successful Syria," a White House National Security Council spokesperson told Axios.

• "We powerfully reason subject enactment that further destabilizes the lives of communities successful Syria and risks the Global Coalition’s hard-earned advancement against ISIS," the spokesperson added. The U.S. inactive has astir 900 troops successful Syria.
• The Kremlin, meanwhile, has said it respects Turkey's information concerns but hopes "all parties" volition "refrain from steps that could pb to the destabilization of the wide situation."

State of play: Erdoğan said Wednesday that the crushed cognition would statesman "at the astir convenient clip for us." The Turkish person seems inclined to propulsion up this time, and statements from Washington and Moscow won't needfully halt him, Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute tells Axios.

• Officials from some the U.S. and Russia told the SDF they were not notified by Turkey anterior to the strikes, Mazloum says. The White House did not comment.

The different side: Mazloum tells Axios the SDF is committed to preventing "escalation," but "if the combat does happen, our forces volition support themselves and their radical until the past of us."

• "This clip the cognition volition not beryllium constricted and determination volition beryllium chaos each on the borderline with Turkey," helium warns.

"We judge that President Biden volition fulfill his promises and support the Kurds from taste cleansing successful the portion by the Turks, arsenic helium has promised during his statesmanlike campaign," Mazloum says, crediting the medication with lasting by those promises up to now.

• Flashback: During the 2019 offensive, then-candidate Biden said then-President Trump had "sold out" and "betrayed" the SDF by pulling U.S. troops retired of the country and seeming to wide the mode for Turkey to determination in.
• Mazloum adds that aft the SDF’s dense losses against ISIS, with much than 12,000 soldiers killed, "we believe, and our radical bash the same, that the U.S. and others person a motivation work to support the families of these martyrs and the radical of this region.”

Between the lines: The Obama, Trump and present Biden administrations person each struggled to equilibrium U.S. relations with its NATO state Turkey and its Kurdish partners successful Syria.

• Now, the superior U.S. precedence is not Syria, but Ukraine, says Cagaptay. Turkey has been a important arms supplier to the Ukrainians and a cardinal mediator betwixt Kyiv and Moscow. It besides wields a veto connected NATO accession for Sweden and Finland.
• All of that suggests the U.S. is improbable to "go arsenic hard against Ankara arsenic it has successful the past,” Cagaptay says.