Erdogan's "Safe Zone" as an umbrella for terrorists and jihadi outfit

Erdogan's "Safe Zone" as an umbrella for terrorists and jihadi outfit
June 26, 2022, 8:08 am

Zara Saleh1

The nightmare of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned out to be a fact in the recent Astana Group Summit on Syria, as Moscow and Tehran has completely rejected any military operation in north Syria.

Despite the US-Russian tensions over the Russian occupation in Ukraine, the Moscow's Special Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentiev has warned Erdogan to stop its intervention plan against Syrian Kurds in Tel Rifaat and Manbij. Simultaneously with that, Erdogan failed to convince the US to launch a new military offense in the Kurdish-controlled areas of Manbij and Tel Rifaat. In contrast, the US State Department has said that, the stability of the region in northern Syria will be under threat if Turkey began any operation, and especially "its impact on the civilian population there" according to American officials. Moreover, the US administration has dismissed the Erdogan's speculation regarding the Turkish threats to block Finland and Sweden membership in NATO.

There is no doubt that, Erdogan is facing internal public anger regarding the refugee crisis in Turkey as he is expecting difficult elections next year. Turkey's plan was to establish the so-called "safe zone" in the Kurdish-controlled areas that were governing by the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF, and to commit a demographic change by returning one million Syrian refugees and it can be considered as an ethnic cleansing. However, in such "safe zone" areas that are occupied by Turkey and Syrian National Army SNA has turned out to be part of ISIS caliphate instead of being a real "safe zone" for the Syrian people. For example, the recent tensions between the jihadi outfit and other extremists’ groups that were led by Turkey, has been cleared so that Erdogan is now capable to create a so-called "safe zone".

The latest confrontations and clashes between the Sham Front and Ahrar Al-Sham with the participation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is in fact, a former Jabhat Al-Nusra and founded by Al-Qaida terrorist group members. Furthermore, the majority of such militias group that are now part of the so-called SNA with Erdogan's political umbrella were jihadi militias. For instance, the Sham Front terrorist group has been split up from Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and now they are part of the Syrian National Army and backed by Turkey. In other words, Turkey’s strong relationship with Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Muslim Brotherhood groups such Al-Tawhid Brigade and the Sham Front has had obvious evidence that Turkey and Erdogan's party become one of the main sources of terror and extremism.

Arguably, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "Kurdish phobia" has led him, with the other factors against Kurds, to become an umbrella of all terrorist and jihadi outfits in north and northeast Syria in the occupied areas. Aiming to fulfil his "chronic phobia" towards Kurds and also Kurdish question, Erdogan is ready to hand over the Kurdish areas of Afrin, Tel Abyad and Ras Al-Ain to Al-Qaeda terrorist such as Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and even the ISIS. Consequently, the so-called Syrian National Army (SNA), is completely part of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham or Al-Nusra Front with no differences, and now serving the Erdogan's political agendas against Kurds and to extend Turkey's occupation of the Syrian territories with some support of Syrian groups themselves that had affiliated with Turkey.