Friend Today, Enemy Tomorrow:

Kurds Blasts US for Keeping Mum on Turkey's Operation in Syria's Afrin

Rasa - Crowds took to the streets of the Syrian city of Kobani to denounce Turkey’s Operation ‘Olive Branch’ in Afrin, while they stressed that the US-led coalition is turning a blind eye to the Turkish military campaign against Kurds.

News ID: 436154

Date: 31 January 2018 - 00:05

RNA - Residents of the Northern city, near the Turkish border, rallied against Ankara’s ongoing operation targeting the US-backed Kurdish force, whom Turkey considers a threat to its security.

Protesters in Kobani also lashed out at American stance during the demonstration, accusing the US government and its allies of having “weak position”.

Despite Washington previously having supplied weapons to the Kurdish forces fighting ISIL in Syria, Ankara’s campaign in Afrin did not receive any strong condemnation from the United States, as the [US President] Donald Trump administration only voiced concerns and urged to “exercise caution” so as not to provoke a conflict between Turkish and US forces.

In a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump raised concerns that Ankara’s ongoing military operation in neighboring Syria, if not wound down, may result in a direct clash between the two NATO allies, as Kurdish fighters look to the US to help in the fight against Turkish troops in Afrin and Manbij, some are accusing Washington of double standards after it did nothing to protect Afrin from “Turkish occupation”.

The United States has also promised once again in late January 2018 to stop arming Syria-based Kurdish militants. Ankara had said late November 2017 that US President told Turkey's President that he had issued instructions that weapons should not be provided to Kurdish fighters in Syria. But Washington continued providing Kurdish fighters with more military hardware in Syria despite Trump's promise to Erdogan to halt arms shipment to them.

“I say that it [the US-led coalition] did not abstain. It is rather watching the [Kurdish] people bleed,” local man Araz Abdul Rahman told Ruptly agency, adding that this position could change in a while and Washington “will support the Kurdish people".

“The US might be our friend today and our enemy tomorrow. Thus, there would be harm if it let us down or not, for we take our strength from our people,” Kobani teacher Buzan Hami said.

Another resident, Zohair Ammor, added that any conversations between US and Turkish leaders are in vain. Thus the call between Trump and Erdogan only “made the battle fiercer".

Since the start of the military operation dubbed “Olive Branch” by Ankara and its allied militants, Turkey has stressed that its forces would push East toward Manbij, potentially putting them in confrontation with US troops deployed in the town.

Turkey’s Operation ‘Olive Branch’ kicked off last Saturday from air and ground around the area of Afrin in Syria's Aleppo to oust the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terror organization and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has stressed that Turkish offensive in Afrin is part of Ankara's strategy based on supporting terrorists.

The Syrian government has condemned the “brutal Turkish aggression” against the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin, rejecting Ankara’s claim about having informed Damascus of the operation.

847/940