The Europeans will launch a joint initiative on the situation in Syria. The European Council ended this Friday in Brussels, following which Emmanuel Macron announced that he would meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson.
Erdogan threatens to resume offensive if "promises" are not respected
While a ceasefire was announced Thursday night, with a five-day truce, 14 civilians were killed on Friday during bombings of Ankara forces, according to an NGO. Artillery fire and shelling continued on all the key points of the front line even though the fighting was less intense. In particular, civilian residences and a hospital were affected. The operation launched by Turkey since 9 October with Syrian deputies has opened a new front in Syria at war since 2011, when Kurdish Western partner forces in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group accused Washington of to have abandoned them.
This truce is actually a political coup initiated by Donald Trump who finds himself in a delicate position and tries to forget that he gave the green light to the Turkish offensive, releasing his Kurdish allies. Erdogan, isolated and condemned by the whole earth, has therefore followed. He finds himself on the bench accused of war crimes committed by Turkish troops who carried out massacres on civilians with their Islamist allies. The two leaders therefore needed to refresh their image even if the conditions of this truce are surreal because they foresee that the Kurds cease all resistance and abandon their territory to Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan also threatened to resume the offensive, if "the promises" were not respected by Tuesday night. Mazloum Abdi, the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by Kurdish fighters, had announced Thursday night that his forces were ready to "respect the ceasefire".