Factions in the Syrian armed opposition said that they are ready to join Turkish forces in an expected new operation against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in northern Syria, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that his country would not ask anyone's permission to carry out the military operation.
Two senior field commanders stated that orders were issued to the commanders of the Syrian National Army units - supported by Turkey - to take an offensive position with the Turkish army escalating mortar shelling and drone strikes in the territories controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units - supported by the United States - in northern Syria. .
Captain Abd al-Salam Abd al-Razzaq, a leader in the Syrian National Army, told Reuters that "the readiness will become within a day and two. There are a large number; tens of thousands of faction fighters are ready, working in the military operation with the Turkish army."
The Turkish President said last Monday that his country would soon launch new military operations along its southern borders to establish security zones at a depth of 30 km, in order to combat what he described as "terror threats" from these areas, and Erdogan stressed on Sunday that his country "intends to complete the security belt that it is working on He pointed out that Ankara does not take permission from anyone to combat terrorism and will manage itself.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: The United States supports the establishment and division of a state in northern Syria,
and Turkey cannot remain passive about developments there.
Tacit support for Turkey's upcoming military operation?!
- Said elhaj (@saidelhaj) May 28, 2022
Tell Rifa' and Ain Al Arab
An officer in the Syrian armed opposition forces said that the two main targets of the expected Turkish attack are the two cities of Tel Rifaat in Aleppo Governorate, and Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), a Kurdish-majority city belonging to the province on the border with Turkey.
Two Syrian opposition sources said that last week Turkey dismantled parts of a concrete wall near Ain al-Arab, which Ankara had built along the 911-kilometer border with Syria, in a move to push forces into the border city.
But a senior opposition leader in contact with the Turkish army said it was not certain that the army's operation was about to begin, and said it might be postponed "until further notice."
Two Syrian opposition sources said that last week Turkey dismantled parts of a concrete wall near Ayn al-Arab, in a move to push forces into the border city.
On the other hand, a source in the People's Protection Units (who is not authorized to speak publicly) said that the units carried out a redeployment of at least several thousand forces, and were sent to the city of Ain and other threatened towns, and in the past few days the units have conducted patrols near the front line with militants. In the Syrian opposition supported by Turkey.
Washington and Tehran
Washington expressed concern over any new Turkish military operation in northern Syria, saying that this would destabilize regional stability and endanger US forces in the region.
Iran also expressed its objection to any such operation by Turkey, and the Iranian Foreign Ministry added that a possible military operation would lead to "more complexity and escalation" in Syria.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry had said that it would consider any Turkish military incursion into its territory "war crimes and crimes against humanity."
It is noteworthy that the Turkish forces, in cooperation with the Syrian National Army, carried out 3 military operations - after 2016 - which are: "Euphrates Shield", "Olive Branch" and "Spring of Peace" in northern Syria, against the Islamic State and the Kurdish People's Protection Units. The operations controlled thousands of kilometers of land, and provided the opportunity for thousands of Syrian refugees to return to their lands.