Syrian Flag Raised In Manbij To Protect Kurds From Turkish Threat

I believe there are plans between Damascus and Kurds to establish the area they populate as a state within a federated Syria. The Syrian Kurd city of Manbij was protected from the Turkish invasion forces by American troops, but now that the Americans are leaving the Kurds asked Assad for protection.

In the meantime the Kurdish YPG forces that Turkey considers terrorists, will leave the city to fight ISIS east of the Euphrates. This gives no legal excuse to the Turks to invade and grab the city. Since the American forces hadn't left as yet, it gave the Syrian army enough time for Syria to march in and plant its flag.

All this was to Erdogan's chagrin of course, who said he wanted to teach the YPG a lesson - which probably included genocide.

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Earlier in the day, the Syrian government's army entered Manbij after the YPG called on Damascus to take control of the city as Erdogan announced that Turkey was ready to launch an operation in the area.

"Considering the obligations of the army to respond to the call by the people of Manbij, the General Staff declares that the army has entered Manbij and raised the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic there", the statement read as cited by the Syrian state broadcaster.

The northern Syrian town of Manbij, previously controlled by the YPG, was left by the Kurdish forces who said they would be concentrating on the fight against Daesh* to the east of the Euphrates.

"In conjunction with this, we invite the Syrian government forces, which are obliged to protect the same country, nation and borders, to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion", the YPG said in a statement.

Erdogan further stated that Turkey's main goal in Syria was to make terrorists leave the Mideast country, adding that Ankara wanted Kurdish militia to "learn a lesson" in the Arab Republic.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812281071064723-syria-manbij-erdogan/​

 

According to the Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, the US decided to withdraw its troops from Syria thanks to Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that Ankara is ready to launch an operation in the town of Manbij in Syria against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) if the US does not withdraw the YPG from there.

The US didn't withdraw the YPG and leave the Kurds defenseless. Instead the Kurds asked the Syrian government for protection, so basically Trump gave the city back to Syria. It was something Erdogan didn't expect. The only other alternative Trump had would have been to send in more US troops. This might be the reason Mattis and the rest of the war mongers are freaking out. If so, then bravo to Pres. Trump.

 

Whenever a president wants to reduce troop levels somewhere, the interventionist crowd on both the left and the right make all sorts of dire predictions which almost never come true. Their predictions concerning the Kurds will almost certainly prove false. The Syrian and Russian governments are absolutely committed to returning Syria to its pre-war status quo, which means they are going to eject Turkey eventually.

 

The US and Turkey made an agreement in June this year that the Kurds (YPG) will withdraw from Manbij.

YPG confirms withdrawal from Syria's Manbij after Turkey-US deal
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/ypg-confirms-withdrawal-syria-manbij-turkey-deal-180605142952090.html

 

This might have been the time the Kurds began making overtures to Damascus.

 

Commitment doesn't imply ability. And I doubt that the Russians are committed enough to see it through. In fact, I know they aren't.

The Iranians are. They're just likely to fail.

 

Your self-serving guesses are not facts.

Returning Syria to its pre-war status quo is vital to Russia's national security. And they have the ability to make that happen. Turkey is no match for the Syrian-Russian-Iranian coalition.

 

Of course the Russians will see it through. Stop projecting! The Iranians are not the guardians of Syria, the Russians are, and Putin has never gone back on his word. As for ability, they were supposed to buckle with the first sanctions, remember?

 

The fog of war:

Erdogan refuses to believe Syria, calls it a psychological action.
Might be months before US troops leave border.
US helicopters seen flying around its troops.
YPG forces still patrolling the city.
Turkish trucks seen entering Syria near Manjib.
Syrian troops are not seen on the ground.​

Courtesy of RT.

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And courtesy of Sputnik:

Kremlin confirms Syrian troops entered Manjib. ​

 

Turkey and all of Nato is no match for Russia with the exclusion of the US. Whoever thinks otherwise is dreaming.

 

No it isn't. The lands south of the Caucuses are, at most, a 4th rate concern of Russia.

Once one factors in how little Russia is actually going to care, it absolutely is.

Russians assistance against Turkey will be token, insignificant.

 

Nonsense. The Russians came in after the hard fighting was over. They played an important role in hold the Americans at bay, but only after Iran had actually saved Assad from his domestic enemies.

 

Long live the proud Kurds !

 

You have not enough knowledge about Turkey's relations with US, but as always you think that you are expert!

Since 18th century, Ottoman Empire (so Turkey) started to follow balance policy between major European powers. Turkish Republic does the same. We are not choosing Russia instead United States or we are not in consensus with what our ally - United States for all policies.

We Turks welcomed more than 3 million northern Syrian refuges, we Turks shared our facilities with those foreigners while your president Mr Trump (whatever I respect him) has made too much trouble and you have face to face with government shutdown for against just a handfull Latin Americans who dream better life. 2 children have died already.

Am I am saying lie? Tell me that how is it fair? 3 millions versus a handfull people?

In Northern Syria, demographics of towns and cities have been changed in favor of Kurds since Syrian Civil War started. Real owners of Manbij, Rakkah and Kobane etc had escaped to Turkey or they had been forced to leave by the YPG/PKK terorist militants.

Those 3 million Syrians need to return their homes/farms and it is time for it. We want integrity of Syria we don't want terrorist vassal states or terror corridor over there.

Also it is not true that Syrian Regime took central Manbij. They are west of Manbij

 

Stop the nonsense. ISIS controlled half of Syria before Assad asked Russia for help and you know it.

 

As soon as ISIS had become Assad's key enemy, the struggle was over, Assad had managed to regain control of Syrian population centers and the moral legitimacy that came with the fall of moderate Arab opposition.

That was thanks to Iranian support.

 

Oh really! I guess then Russia enjoyed the wars in Chechnya, and the CIA led terrorists from the Gulf coming through Syria and Turkey. Just to educate you, Russia's pipelines run through Chechnya, so Syria was a matter of survival for Russia - or at least it was before the sanctions. Since then they've become more self sufficient and can survive without it.

 

The Caucuses, including Chechnya, are a 2rd rate concern. The Russians are willing to spill significant blood and treasure to control the Caucuses.

They're not going to be willing to fight a great power war in defense of the Kurds... or even Assad, but definitely not the Kurds.

One must understand that the Russians weren't even willing to fight a great power war in Ukraine, against a non-NATO power, when Ukraine is a first-rate concern to the Russians. At least not yet, though their window of opportunity hasn't closed completely. But it's clear that they've been very very cautious, and for good reason. The Americans are no trifle.

 

You know its not true, so why are you emphasizing Iran's help at the expense of Russia? I sense a political motive. Here's a map of Syria before Assad asked Russia for help.

 

I'm emphasizing it because it is true. Westerners tend to focus on the Russians, because when it comes down to it Westerners are Eurocentrics. Iran, not Russia or America, has been the most important foreign player in Syria. That's about to change, as the Turks become more bellicose.

Indeed, look at all those population centers under the control of pro-Assad forces. Good job, Iran.

I like how you're pretending that Assad just hadn't thought to ask the Russians for help by this point. His darkest hours had passed, there's no doubt that he'd sought help previously, and the Russians weren't willing to give it. That's exactly what happened.

But the Iranians were willing to give it. And, in the struggle against the Turks, the same dynamic is going to play out. The Iranians are going to do the heavy lifting, and the Russians are going to offer token support.

 

Russia wasn't going to be tricked by Washington into a war in Ukraine. Besides, regardless of the Nazi contingent from Ukraine's west and the mafia junta Nuland put in charge, Putin was not going to kill his fellow Slavs for a situation they were forced into by Washington.

The only reason Washington had the coup was so it could grab Crimea, and Putin managed to take it legally and through the will of the people and without spilling one drop of blood whether it be: Russian, Tatar, Ukrainian, Greek, and otherwise. Can the US and its allies say the same?

Anyway Putin has bent over backwards to avoid a war, while the US has done everything to provoke Russia into a war. But I don't even know why you're mentioning that Russia's not going to fight to protect the Kurds? The Kurds are Assad's concern not Russia. As for Syria, it is Russia's concern. Assad delegated its protection to Moscow, and Moscow accepted the responsibility.

As for Turkey it's a minor power.

 

However you want to characterize it, if they weren't willing to fight a great power war over Ukraine, they certainly won't fight one over Syria.

A trend that might continue. It will definitely continue in the Middle East.

This is going to be the way that Russians characterize their coming neutrality on the matter. But the fact is that a Turkish invasion of Syrian Kurdistan is both a violation of Syrian sovereignty and an event that will increase Turkish leverage over Assad in coming years. And indeed, it may trigger an open war between Turkey and Syria. In such a war the Iranians will be heavily involved. The Russians will not.

You keep on believing that. In 20 years (maybe sooner), Turkey is once again going to be one of the world's great powers, and Russia will be a chaotic rump under German domination in the West, Japanese domination in the East, and Turkish domination along the Black and Caspian sea coasts. Maybe you'll stop believing it then.

 

Who should people believe? Some random guy on the internet with no facts or evidence to support his claims? Or the Russian government who has invested massively in returning Syria to its pre-war status quo? Gee, tough call.

Your self-serving, fact-free claims do not outweigh Russia's actual actions and words.

 

Who people believe is of little importance to me. I'm not trying to lead a movement, I'm sharing my opinion.

And Russian assistance in Syria has been nice, but it's really the diplomatic cover the Russians provide that matter, especially regarding the Turks and Americans. The reason the Russians got involved in Syria is because the costs are low and risks minor, not because they care very much.

The Iranians have sacrificed much more in this struggle, and risk open war with several neighbors and the United States.

To the Turks, like the Iranians, Syria is of key importance. Syria is NOT of key importance either to the United States or Russia. As a result, any time the Turks play chicken with either the Americans or Russians over Syria, the Turks are going to win. This is precisely how it's played out for the Americans in the past few weeks, and exactly how it's going to play out with the Russians over coming months.

No, they interpret them.

I'm not claiming that I have better intelligence than anybody else regarding these matters, I'm claiming that too few people use common sense to interpret what facts we do have. With a few concepts, "skin-in-the-game" and "risk-vs-reward," along with a willingness to see the conflict from the point of view of each actor, I've been making my predictions.

So far, I've been correct. I suspect that I'll continue being correct.