Russia reinforces troops amid reports of possible Turkish incursion to northern Syria
The Russian military has sent fighter jets and helicopters to Qamishli airport in northeastern Syria, Asharq al-Awsat reported on Sunday.
The airport is in the region controlled by U.S.-backed Kurdish group Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The deployment comes as reports emerge that Turkey is preparing for another incursion into the area. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the same day repeated his comments on the possible incursion. “I always say, we may pounce on them suddenly one night. We have to. Will we not make them pay for our martyrs?” Erdoğan told reporters.
Meanwhile Saturday saw six Russian helicopters surveying the Turkish-Syrian border, Asharq al-Awsat said.
The Syrian regime and Russia have both reinforced their positions in Hasakeh and Qamishli, the Arab outlet cited a SDF military source as saying.
U.S. troops in the area have deployed patrols in the area, it said, and have been listening to locals’ concerns over Turkish operations.
On Thursday, Turkey’s National Security Council declared that the country’s ongoing military operation in Northern Iraq was a matter of national security instead of targeting a neighbouring country’s territorial integrity or sovereignty.
Via previous incursions in northern Syria, Turkey established an incomplete safe zone along its border, with Russia convincing Kurdish forces to withdraw from a significant portion of the territory they controlled.
“We withdrew our forces to avoid a war,” a spokesman for the Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) told Asharq al-Awsat. “But we are on alert for any attacks.”
YPG relies on its own forces and not Moscow or Washington, the spokesman said. The United States was the main provider of equipment and training for the armed group at the height of the international fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). Moscow and Washington are both guarantors of de-escalation agreements with Turkey.
Asharq al-Awsat
