Turkey targets Syrian troops in deadly counterattack
February 3, 2020
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to continue Ankara's operation in Idlib, Syria, after at least four Turkish soldiers were killed during "intensive shelling" by Syrian government troops.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Souleiman
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At least 13 Syrian government soldiers were reportedly killed by Turkish shelling in Idlib region, Syria, on Monday, in an attack that came in "retaliation" for an earlier strike by Syrian troops that killed eight Turkish soldiers, according to the Britain-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The clash marks a rare confrontation between Syrian forces and Turkish troops based in the northwestern region of Syria.
The war monitor said the Turkish attack — south of the flash point town of Saraqeb — seriously wounded another 20 regime fighters.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkish forces had hit 54 targets in Idlib, and had killed 76 Syrian troops, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.
Erdogan: Offensive to continue
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier vowed that his country's military operation in Syria's Idlib region would continue after the death of Turkish soldiers.
"We have responded in kind to these attacks and will continue to do so, whether it is with our artillery or mortars," he told reporters in Istanbul.
"We are determined to continue our operations for the security of our country, people and our brothers in Idlib."
The US withdrawal of troops from Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria and the launch of the Turkish offensive have created a complicated web of actors, from Russia to Syrian government troops.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/Staff Sgt. A. Goedl
US: Troop pullback
Over the past years, US troops have supported Kurdish fighters as they battled radical "Islamic State" (IS) militants to take back control of large areas of northern Syria. In what was seen as a surprising turnaround, US President Donald Trump announced in early October that he was withdrawing US troops from the region's border with Turkey. This pullback left a vacuum for others to act and react.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/Staff Sgt. A. Goedl
Turkey: Anti-Kurdish offensive
Trump's troop withdrawal was a de-facto go-ahead for Turkey to launch an offensive into northeast Syria. The region is home to a largely autonomous Kurdish population and Kurdish militants known as the YPG, who are tied to an outlawed Kurdish party in Turkey. Turkey, who has faced a Kurdish insurgency, sees the Syrian Kurds as a threat to its security, hence the military action.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Akif Parlak
Kurdish YPG: Fighting Turkish forces
The YPG was one of the US' main allies in the fight to drive out IS from north Syria, but since October it has been fighting the Turkish forces that crossed into Syria. The YPG lacks strong air capabilities and defenses, putting it at a decided disadvantage in comparison to the Turkish army.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Souleiman
SDF: Betrayed by the US
The YPG is the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which also includes Arab and Christian militias. The SDF, which fought IS, controls northeastern Syria and feels betrayed by the US pullback. It is now fighting Turkish troops and their allies. It has warned that the Turkish offensive could distract from making sure IS fighters do not renew their strength in Syria.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Souleiman
Syrian government army: Deal made
The relationship between Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops and the SDF is a tricky one that shifts between cooperation, live-and-let-live and skirmishes, depending on the current situation. After Turkey launched its offensive, the Kurds struck a deal with the government that saw Syrian troops mobilized to fight the Turkish forces, allowing them to enter a region they had ceded to the SDF.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Russia: Stepping up, stepping in
Russia has consistently backed the government of Syrian President Assad (L, with Putin in 2018) and assisted its forces. After US troops pulled out of the Kurdish areas, Russia moved its troops in to act as a buffer for Syrian government forces advancing towards the Turkish army. Moscow wants Syria to remain united and has accused the US of creating parallel structures in the Kurdish region.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Klimentyev
SNA: Turkey's Syrian allies
Turkey also has allies among Syrian fighters. The Syrian National Army (SNA), also known as the Free Syrian Army, is a Syrian rebel group that has fought against the SDF and Assad's government. Backed by Turkey, SNA fighters took part in previous Turkish offensives against Kurdish militias inside Syria. Currently, thousands of SNA fighters are fighting the YPG alongside Turkish forces.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/B. Kasim
IS: A renewed role?
One possible future actor is IS. While it was essentially defeated in March 2019, tens of thousands of its fighters and their families remain in prisons or guarded camps in the Kurdish area of the country. Nearly a thousand alone have already escaped from a camp that was caught in the fighting between Kurdish militias and Turkish forces. Should the situation grow more unstable, IS could regroup.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Alleruzzo
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Russia blames lack of information
Erdogan urged Russia, an ally of the Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, to not stand in the way of Turkey's response.
The Syrian strike targeting Turkish troops happened despite Ankara giving prior notification of its soldiers' whereabouts, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
Russia has said a lack of information was to blame for the strike.
"Turkish troops were changing locations at night in the Idlib de-escalation zone without informing the Russian side," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday, according to TASS news agency.
The Turkish troops "came under fire from Syrian government troops targeting terrorists in an area west of Saraqeb," the statement added.
Turkey, however, has held firm after Moscow's response. A spokesman for Erdogan, Omer Celik, on Twitter said: "The statement that Russia was not informed is not correct. Turkey is providing regular and instant information to Russia. It also informed them in this latest event..."
Last rebel-held territory
The attack on Turkish troops was responded to immediately, according to a social media post by Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.
Monday's tit-for-tat shelling incidents come amid a Syrian government offensive into the last rebel-held territory, located in Idlib and parts of the nearby Aleppo region.
Turkish troops had been deployed to monitor a fragile cease-fire, which later collapsed.
Idlib offensive
Turkey — which opposes the Assad regime — has refused to leave 12 observation outposts in Idlib, saying they are recognized by an agreement with Moscow.
However, the Syrian regime views the outposts with hostility, and in December surrounded one of them in a move that nearly opened a new front in the conflict.
