Syrian Kurdish officials are reportedly urging President-elect Trump to dissuade Turkey from a potential invasion.
Turkey and its allied militias are reportedly amassing troops near the Syrian border, suggesting preparations for a large-scale incursion into Kurdish-controlled areas, according to a Monday Wall Street Journal report citing senior US officials. These forces include militia fighters, Turkish commandos, and substantial artillery, concentrated near Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish city on the Turkish-Syrian border.
A US official told the WSJ that the US is actively working to prevent Turkey from launching a cross-border operation.
Ilham Ahmed, a Syrian Kurdish official, reportedly wrote to President-elect Trump, requesting his intervention to prevent Turkish President Erdogan from deploying troops.
“From across the border, we can already see Turkish forces amassing, and our civilians live under the constant fear of imminent death and destruction,” Ahmed wrote in the letter, according to the WSJ.
Ahmed expressed concern that a Turkish operation could be imminent, warning that Ankara seemingly aims to “establish de facto control” over Kurdish territories before Trump’s inauguration.
Ahmed argued that this would force Trump to interact with Turkey as “rulers of our territory,” leading to “catastrophic” consequences.
Last week, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a predominantly Kurdish group, reported being targeted by Turkish artillery and drone strikes.
In response, Senator Lindsey Graham cautioned Turkey, a NATO member, about potential sanctions if it continues attacking US-backed Kurdish forces, which he credited with helping defeat ISIS.
“We have to ensure that the roughly 50,000 ISIS prisoners in northeastern Syria – being primarily held by Kurdish forces – are not released,” he stated on X, adding that while Ankara has “legitimate concerns regarding different groups” in the region, an ISIS jailbreak would be “a nightmare for America.”
Following the Syrian opposition’s, led by Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists, takeover of the former Assad government, virtually all of western Syria is under the control of the armed opposition, many supported by Turkey.
However, the SDF retains control of eastern and northeastern Syria. Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish armed units as terrorists.