Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that he had discussed plans for Turkish military action in northern Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin and ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
In recent days, Erdogan has said he would infiltrate Syria to attack Kurdish militants and create a 30-kilometer security zone. During a telephone call, the Turkish president said that the border zone had been negotiated with Erdogan Putin in 2019, but that it had never been completed.
In October 2019, Ankara’s military launched an offensive against Kurdish security forces, abbreviated as YPG. The Russian Federation, the Syrian regime and the United States also have troops along the border.
Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has declared the security of an autonomous Kurdistan. However, the YPG is the backbone of US-led forces in the fight against the so-called Islamic State in Syria. The United States saw with displeasure the Turkish incursion into Syria against the OPG.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey is ready to resume its role in the talks to end the war in Ukraine, including the eventual participation of Ukraine in the “monitoring mechanism” with the Russian Federation and the United Nations.
Negotiations in the Turkish capital in March did not allow any progress in resolving the Russian invasion, but Ankara, which has close ties to Moscow and Kiev, presented itself as a potential mediator.
In Washington, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, discussed with Erdogan’s top adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, the two countries’ support for Ukraine, but also expressed concern about Turkish operations in Syria. Sullivan reiterated the importance of maintaining the current ceasefire lines to prevent further destabilization in Syria, “said Adrian Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
