CNN International: Mazlum Kobani ABD’ye gidiyor

CNN International’da yer alan habere göre, Suriye Demokratik Güçleri (DSG) Genel Komutanı Mazlum Kobani son gelişmeleri tartışmak üzere ABD’ye gidiyor.

CNN International: Mazlum Kobani ABD'ye gidiyor

Suriye Demokratik Güçleri (DSG) Genel Komutanı Mazlum Kobani’nin son gelişmeleri tartışmak üzere kısa süre içerisinde Washington’a geçebileceği bildirildi.

Mazlum Kobani birkaç gün önce ABD Başkanı Donald Trump ile de telefonla görüşmüştü.

Sözkonusu habere ilişkin ABD’de bulunan gazeteci Mutlu Çiviroğlu ve gazeteci Aylina Kılıç kişisel sosyal medya hesabı Twitter’den paylaşımda bulundular.

 

Nerina Azad

Novinar kurdskog servisa Glasa Amerike: Turski napad na Kurde daje šanse za jačanje ISIL-a

Mutlu Civiroglu, novinar kurdske redakcije Glasa Amerike, govori o ofanzivi turskih snaga prema dijelu Sirije u kojem uglavnom žive Kurdi. Prema njegovim riječima, Kurdi se zbog povlačenja SAD-a, koje je i dovelo da turskog napada, osjećaju izdani, a na to gledaju kao na odluku Donalda Trumpa. Civiroglu kaže da su sada povećane šanse za jačanje ISIL-a.

 

https://ba.voanews.com/a/novinar-kurdskog-servisa-glasa-amerike-turski-napad-na-kurde-daje-%C5%A1anse-za-ja%C4%8Danje-isil-a/5119756.html

 

 

 

‘A bloody conflict’: Trump’s actions in Syria will have long-term consequences

Kurds call it a stab in the back: chaos to come will have many participants

U.S. IS IN BUSINESS WITH SYRIA’S ASSAD—WHETHER DONALD TRUMP LIKES IT OR NOT

BY TOM O’CONNOR

us, oil, business, syria, trump, assad
Syrian government forces stand at the entrance of the Rasafa oil pumping station after taking it from ISIS, on July 9, 2017. The site is situated southwest of the city of Raqqa, where ISIS would be driven out by the Syrian Democratic Forces months later.GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The United States’ primary allies in Syria have supplied oil to Damascus, despite the government being sanctioned by Washington.

The Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, and the Kurdish forces that comprise the majority of the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have long maintained a working relationship despite vast political differences before and after a 2011 rebel and jihadi uprising that has threatened both of their livelihoods. As the two factions emerge as the most influential forces on the ground, their ongoing ties are receiving new attention.

The dialogue between the Syrian government and Syrian Democratic Forces has centered on the former’s need for oil from resource-rich regions held by the latter, which has demanded greater autonomy. U.S. plans to withdraw from the conflict following the virtual defeat of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), however, have expedited Kurdish desires to be on good terms with Damascus.

Reporting by Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency and Daily Sabah newspaper cited local sources Thursday as saying that a new deal had been reached to allow the People’s Protection Units (YPG)—the leading faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces—to more quickly transport oil via new pipelines being built under the government-held, eastern city of Deir Ezzor.

GettyImages-953334514
Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S. soldiers (left) gather at the Al-Tanak oil field as they prepare to relaunch a military campaign against ISIS near Al-Bukamal, which is under government control, along with Deir Ezzor city, on May 1, 2018. The United States’ primary allies in Syria have supplied oil to Damascus, despite the government being sanctioned by Washington.DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The sources claimed that companies operating under government control had already begun laying pipes near Al-Shuhayl, a town off the western bank of the Euphrates River that divides the separate anti-ISIS campaigns waged by the Syrian government in the west and the Syrian Democratic Forces. The deal was reportedly the result of an agreement made during talks last July when the two sides agreed to share production profits.

The day after the Turkish report was published, The Wall Street Journal published its own piece citing a person familiar with U.S. intelligence and a tanker driver transporting oil in elaborating on the arrangement. The article found that oil tankers were traveling near daily to transport oil to the Qatarji Group, a firm hit by U.S. sanctions in September due to its alleged involvement in facilitating oil deals between the government and ISIS.

The official U.S. military mission in Syria was limited to defeating ISIS, but Washington and its regional allies previously intervened in the country via support for insurgents attempting to overthrow Assad, whom they accused of human rights abuses. The U.S. began targeting ISIS as it overtook half of both Iraq and Syria in 2014 and teamed up with the Syrian Democratic Forces the following year, just as Russia intervened on Assad’s behalf.

Since Moscow stepped in, the Syrian military and pro-government militias—some of which were Iran-backed Shiite Muslim paramilitary groups mobilized from across the region—have retaken much of the nation, leaving only the northwestern Idlib province in the hands of the Islamist-led opposition now primarily sponsored by Turkey, and roughly a third of the country under the Syrian Democratic Forces’ control in the north and east.

The Syrian Democratic Forces’ share includes most of the nation’s oil resources, which produced up to 350,000 barrels per day prior to the war before dwindling to about 25,000, according to current estimates, while the government still controls the nation’s oil refineries. The successful Syrian Democratic Forces campaign to retake the oil and gas fields from ISIS helped to starve the jihadis of their black market revenue. Now Damascus is in dire need of this income to establish an economy stable enough to capitalize on successive military victories.

GettyImages-811357670
Syrian government forces stand at the entrance of the Rasafa oil pumping station after taking it from ISIS, on July 9, 2017. The site is situated southwest of the city of Raqqa, where ISIS would be driven out by the Syrian Democratic Forces months later.GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

This has led to a number of profit-sharing agreements, extending back to at least 2017, as Damascus continued to pay the salaries of workers in Kurdish-held cities and talks expanded last year to include the Syrian government potentially retaking control of certain facilities such as the Al-Tabqa dam near the northern city of Raqqa. In return, the Syrian Democratic Forces have pushed for wider recognition of the country’s significant Kurdish minority and for greater self-rule. More than anything, however, the militia has now sought the Syrian government’s protection against a common enemy.

Turkey, a fellow U.S. ally, considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization due to suspected ties to a Kurdish separatist insurgency at home. With President Donald Trump planning to soon withdraw from Syria, many Kurdish fighters have expressed fears that their protective umbrella would close. Pro-government groups, too, have clashed with the Syrian Democratic Forces in apparent attempts to seize oil and gas infrastructure, which—along with the rest of the country—Assad has vowed to reclaim through diplomacy or force.

Though Trump has vowed to protect the Kurds in the event of a U.S. exit, he also accused them last month of “selling the small oil that they have to Iran,” even though “we asked them not to”—a charge denied by leading Syrian Kurdish politician Salih Muslim in an interview with journalist Mutlu Civiroglu. Like Syria, Iran was subject to extensive sanctions by Washington, restricting its ability to market oil internationally.

Iran has, however, sent up to 10,000 barrels per day to Syria, as estimated by TankerTrackers.com and reported by The Wall Street Journal, furthering both countries’ economic interests in a development that has prompted anxieties among Arab states feeling increasingly sidelined by Tehran. As the Syrian Democratic Forces rushed to repair relations with Damascus, a number of Arab League states have also begun to repair ties gradually in hopes of steering Syria away from Iran.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-oil-business-syria-trump-assad-1325018

 

 

 

Suriye’yi bekleyen ikinci savaş

Suriye’de çatışmalar hafiflerken, yolsuzlukla mücadele, ekonomi ve siyasetin yeniden inşası gibi sorunlar gündeme gelmeye başladı. Bu dönem halk arasında “ülkeyi bekleyen ikinci savaş” olarak tanımlanıyor.

    

Suriye'nin başkenti Şam (Foto: Arşiv)

Suriye’nin başkenti Şam (Foto: Arşiv)

 

Suriye’de çatışmaların hafiflemeye başlaması ile birlikte, uzun vadeli ve köklü yapısal reformlar gerektiren yolsuzlukla mücadele, ekonomi ve siyasetin yeniden inşası gibi sorunlar gündeme gelmeye başladı.

Halk arasında “ülkeyi bekleyen ikinci savaş” olarak tanımlanan bu dönemi DW Türkçe’ye değerlendiren uzmanlar “Suriye’nin kırılgan ve tehlikeli bir dönemin eşiğinde olduğu” konusunda hemfikir.

Suriye içindeki siyasi partilerden biri olan ve savaş döneminde yükselişe geçen Suriye Sosyalist Milliyetçi Parti’den Tarık El Ahmet, “Ülkeyi yıllar süren savaş halinden barış ve huzurun hakim olduğu günlere taşımayı sağlayacak bir sihirli değnek yok ancak (bütün boyutları ile) yeniden imar süreci başladı” dedi.

Carnegie Ortadoğu Merkezi’nden Yezid Sayigh “Suriye’de birçok sorunun çözüm beklediğini ancak mevcut hükümetin politik veya ekonomik konuları çözmek için bir planları olduğunu düşünmediğini” söyledi.

Oklahoma Üniversitesi’nden Joshua Landis ise, yolsuzluktan ekonomi politikasına ve Suriye’ye yönelik yaptırımlara kadar birçok konunun ilişkili olduğuna dikkat çekerek, “Suriye’de durum daha da kötüleşecek” diye konuştu.

Syrischer Pass

 

Suriye’de resmi evrak temininden hastanede yer bulmaya kadar birçok konuda rüşvet, adam kayırma, kanun dışı uygulamalar neredeyse normal sayılır hale geldi.

 

Yolsuzluk en önemli sorun

Suriye’nin birçok yerinde devlet kontrolünün kaybolması ile birlikte her türlü ihtiyacı temin ve sevk eden yeni ticaret ağları öne çıkmaya başladı. Resmi evrak temini, okul kaydı yaptırmak veya hastanede yer bulmak, iş bulmak, kanunla ilgili sorunlarda sonuçları lehe çevirmek gibi birçok konuda rüşvet, adam kayırma, kanun dışı uygulamalar neredeyse normal sayılır hale geldi.

Halk arasında çatışmaların sona ermesi ile birlikte yolsuzluğa karşı etkili bir mücadelenin başlatılması, yolsuzluğa karışan kişi veya grupların mahkeme karşısına çıkartılması beklentileri de dile getiriliyor.

Ancak suçlu ile mağdurun karıştığı, mağdurun aynı zamanda suçlu olduğu, yolsuzluk dahil çeşitli suçlara karışanların aynı zamanda devletin yanında savaştığı ülkede beklenen ölçüde bir yargılama sürecinin gerçekleşmesi pek mümkün görünmüyor.

Tarık El Ahmet’e göre, “yolsuzluğa karşı savaşmak terörizme karşı savaşmaktan çok daha zor. Yolsuzluğun kısa sürede yok edilmesi mümkün değil ancak bütün bölgeler devlet kontrolüne girdikçe ve kamu kurumları çalışmaya başladıkça aşamalı olarak azalması mümkün.”

Joshua Landis ise, yolsuzluğun birçok Ortadoğu ülkesi gibi Suriye’nin de on yıllardır çözemediği bir sorun olduğuna dikkat çekti.

Suriye’deki sistemi “bütün bölgede olduğu gibi yönetim güvenlik ve istikrar sağlar, halk politik haklarından vazgeçer, soru sormaz” şeklinde tanımlayan Landis’e göre, Suriye’ye yönelik yaptırımların da etkisiyle “her işin masa altında halledildiği yolsuzluk üzerine kurulu, şeffaflığın olmadığı bir sistem inşa edildi.”

Landis yolsuzluğun adam kayırma, liyakat yerine şahıslara/gruplara sadakat gibi kişisel çıkarları öncelikli gören ve devletin birçok kurumunu saran yapısal bir sorunlar ağı haline geldiğini söyledi.

Yeni model ne olacak?

Suriye’de ayaklanma öncesi dönemde dışarıya kapalı, tek partili ve sosyalizme benzer bir sistem uygulanıyordu.

2000’li yılların ortasında ekmekten mazota kadar birçok ihtiyacın devlet tarafından sübvanse edildiği bu sistemden neo-liberal bir sisteme geçiş hamlesi başladı. İç üretimin yeterli düzeyde desteklenmemesi, Suriye bankaları üzerindeki yaptırımların yatırımların önünü kapatması, devlet kurumlarında ve siyasi yapıda yeni politikalara ayak uyduracak şekilde yapısal dönüşümün sağlanmaması gibi nedenlerle yeni sistem denemesi başarısız oldu.

Basar - Grosbild

Ekonominin savaş öncesi canlılığına kavuşması “en zor konu”. (Foto: Şam’da bir çarşı / Arşiv)

 

Bu sonuç en sert etkisini ekonomide gösterdi. Sübvansiyonlar başta olmak üzere sosyalist sisteme göre devletin üstlendiği destekler devlet bütçesinde giderek büyüyen bir yük olmaya başladı. Yerel üreticiler zayıflarken, kısa sürede yüzlerce atölye kapandı ve işsizlik artmaya başladı. Sübvansiyonların azaltılması alım gücünü iyice düşürdü.

Savaş döneminde ise ekonomi, tarım arazilerinin ekilememesi, atölye ve fabrikaların kapanması, vergi toplanamaması, askeri giderler, sanayide kullanılan makinelerden hastanelerdeki teknolojik cihazlara kadar pahalı araç gereçlerin kullanılamaz hale gelmesi, binlerce aracın çalınması veya hurda hale gelmesi, yüzlerce kilo altının ve malın bulunduğu çarşıların yağmalanması gibi birçok darbe aldı. Yine iş insanları dahil yüz binlerce insanın servetlerini ülke dışına çıkarması, Suriye lirasının dolar karşısında 10 kat zayıflaması da ekonomiyi sarsan faktörler arasında.

Kalifiye kadrolarını büyük ölçüde kaybeden ve beyin göçü de veren Suriye’de yeni dönemde ekonomi politikası dahil nasıl bir modelin uygulanacağı belirsiz. Bu durum siyasi yapının dizaynından mültecilerin dönüşüne kadar birçok sorunu da doğrudan etkiliyor.

Yeni bir modelin geliştirilmesinin mümkün olmadığını savunan Landis, “Eski sistem çöktü ancak yaptırımlar nedeniyle yeni bir sistem bulunması da çok zor. Bu nedenle eski sistemle devam etmek zorundalar. İnsanları sessiz tutmak ve otoriter uzlaşmayı (güvenlik ve istikrara karşı demokrasiden feragat) korumak için daha fazla şiddet kullanacaklar” dedi.

Yezid Sayigh de Suriye’yi ölmeyen ama kendini nasıl iyileştireceğini de bilmeyen hasta şeklinde tanımlayarak, “Eski sistemi kullanmaya devam edecekler. Politik davranışlarını değiştirmek istemiyorlar. Hâlâa güvenlikçi müdahalelere güveniyorlar. Rejim hayatta kalacak ancak çok kırılgan ve ekonomik açıdan iflasın eşiğinde ve zorluklar devam edecek” diye konuştu.

Ekonominin yeniden inşası mümkün mü?

Ekonominin yeniden inşasını “en zor konu” diye tanımlayan Tarık El Ahmet’e göre yol, elektrik, su gibi öncelikli ihtiyaçların giderilmesi çalışmaları birkaç yıl önce başladı. Yine Halep ve Şam başta olmak üzere binlerce atölye ve fabrika da açıldı ancak yaptırımlar bu süreci yavaşlatıyor.

Joshua Landis, Suriye’de sadece çatışmaların bittiğini ve ekonomi yoluyla savaşın sürdüğünü söyledi. ABD ve Batı ülkelerinin Rusya ve İran’a zarar vermek ve Beşar Esad’ı düşürmek için yaptırımları kullandığını savunan Landis, “Suriye’nin yeniden inşa edilmesi gerekiyor ki mültecilerden kurtulabilsinler ama ABD, Fransa, İngiltere hiçbir ülke yeniden inşa etmek istemiyor. Ancak bu cezalar Suriyelilere. Suriyeliler savaşta kaybettiler, şimdi barış döneminde de… Rejim (Esad yönetimi) ne derse kabul edecekler” dedi.

Syrien verschwendetes Erdöl in Qamischli

Suriye’deki petrol çıkarma çalışmaları (Foto: Arşiv)

 

Petrol bölgeleri kimin?

Suriye’deki petrol kaynaklarının bir kısmı Suriye ordusunun bir kısmı da ABD destekli Suriye Demokratik Güçleri’nin (SDG) elinde.

SDG ve YPG kontrolündeki bölgelerin geleceğinin belirsizliği, petrol kaynaklarının idaresi ve gelirin kullanımı gibi konuları da etkiliyor.

Yine bu bölgelerde, Türkiye’nin desteklediği Afrin ve çevresinde ve Suriye ordusunun kontrolündeki kısımda farklı idari-finansal ve eğitim sistemleri uygulanıyor.

Bir süredir SDG’nin elindeki bölgede bulunan gazeteci Mutlu Çiviroğlu, genel olarak sokakların ve çarşıların hareketli olduğunu ancak ihtiyaçların Irak Kürdistan’ından veya Cerablus-Bab hattı üzerinden Türkiye’den sağlandığını söyledi.

Çiviroğlu, “Gelen her mal 3-4 el değiştirerek ulaşıyor. Her el değiştirdiğinde fiyat da artıyor. Mazot gibi temel ihtiyaçlar sübvanse ediliyor. Yine askeri (YPG-SDG ve polis gücü Asayiş) ve sivil memurun maaşları genelde petrol kaynaklarından sağlanıyor. Üretim yok, tüketim var ve bu sürdürülebilir değil” dedi.

Ekonomi başta olmak üzere birçok sorunun acil çözüm beklediği Suriye’de yeni dönemi sahada çekişen ABD-Rusya-Türkiye ve İran gibi ülkelerin hamleleri de doğrudan etkileyecek gibi görünüyor.

Hediye Levent

https://www.dw.com/tr/suriyeyi-bekleyen-ikinci-sava%C5%9F/a-48044926

Li Washingtonê projeya Rojava

Hevseroka MSD´ê Ilham Ehmed li Washigtonê di panelekê de got, ew alîkariyê ji bo projeya xwe ya siyasî dixwazin û divê ew di nava çareseriyeke siyasî de cihê xwe bigirin.

Bi organîzasyona ARCDEM´ê (‏Navenda Rojava a ji bo Demokrasiyê ya Emerîkî) bi navê  “Piştî DAIŞ´ê? Bakurê Sûriyê li ber duriyanekê” li paytexta Emerîkayê Washingtonê panelek bi rê ve çû. Di vê panelê de Hevseroka Meclîsa Sûriyeya Demokratîk (MSD) Îlham Ehmed, ji zanîngeha Columbiayê Prof. David L. Phillips, analîstê ji Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Nicholas A. Heras û nivîskara pirtûka “Nearamiya Civakî û Baregehên Eskerî yên Emerîkî li Tirkiye û Elmanyayê ji 1945´an ve” Amy Austin Holmes weke qiseker amade bûn. Rojnamevan û analîstê siyasî Mutlu Çiviroglu moderatoriya panelê kir. Li mekanê panelê Press Club a li paytexta DYE´yê, gelek kes û rojnamevan amade bûn.

Destekê bidin projeya me ya siyasî

Hevseroka MSD´ê Ilham Ehmed axaftina destpêkê ya di panelê de kir û got, “Li Sûriyê niha krîzek heye, û ev krîz kûrtir bû. Em projeyeke nû ji bo Sûriyeke nenavendî pêşniyaz dikin û em hez dikin vê projeyê li tevahiya welêt pêk bînin.”

Ilham Ehmed ji bo dewra Tirkiyeyê li Sûriyê eşkere peyivî û got, “Dewleta Tirk li Sûriyê bi roleke gelekî xirab rabû. Li Efrînê wan komkujî kirin. Pirraniya xelkê Efrînê bi darê zorê koçber kirin. Wan çete û malbatên wan anîn Efrînê û demografî guherand. Wan mal û milkê xelkê dizî û dest avêt jinan.”

Îlham Ehmed navê terorîzmê li van kirinên dewleta Tirk kir: “Em dizanin ku ya Tirkiye dike terorîzm bi xwe ye. Îro, ya em dibêjin ew e ku divê ewlekarî û aramiya herêma me bê parastin. Ya ku em dibêjin ev e; me ewlekariya dinyayê parast (li dijî DAIŞ´ê), em xwe ji bo ewlekariya mirovahiyê berpirsiyar dibînin. Pêdiviya me bi alîkariya wan welatan heye ku me ew parastin.”

Ka ev alîkarî wê alîkariyeke çawa be jî, ji van gotinên Îlham Ehmed diyar bû: “Pêdiviya me bi alîkariya ji bo projeya me ya siyasî heye. Divê em di çareseriyeke siyasî de hebin. Destûrnedana beşdarbûna me di pêvajoya Cenevreyê de zexmkirina krîzê ye, zexmkirina şer e.”

Tenê QSD dikare bi DAIŞ´ê

Nicholas A. Heras di panelê de got, “Ya ku li vir em behsa wê dikin tevgerek e ku hewl dide gelêrî be û bersivê bide daxwazên gel. Li ber çavê me, ha vê kêliyê ya ku em dibînin, bi gewdebûna îdeala sivaka demokratîk e.” Li gorî wî, ji bilî QSD´ê jî ti hêza din wê nikaribe li dijî DAIŞ´ê herêmê biparêze: “Ti hêzeke din a cihî û bikêrhatî (ji bilî QSD´ê) nîne ku karibe ji nû ve derketina holê ya DAIŞ´ê asteng bike.”

Amy Austin Holmes jî îşaret bi girîngiya têkbirina daîmî ya DAIŞ´ê kir û got, “Rêya herî muhim a misogerkirina şikandina daîmî ya DAIŞ´ê ew e ku bê misogerkirin ku îdeolojiya tundraw a Îslamî bê têkbirin.”

WASHINGTON

Li Washingtonê projeya Rojava

 

The distant dream of a secure safe zone in northern Syria

On January 13, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed, in an ambiguous tweet, the creation of a 20-mile safe zone in northern Syria.

Almost 10 days later there is still considerable confusion over what exactly it means and how it might be implemented. The Turkish government wants the area cleared of Syrian Kurdish forces, for instance, while Syrian Kurds oppose any Turkish role. And will it be primarily a Turkish venture, or might the United States spearhead its creation?

Ankara’s preferred safe zone is one that is free of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), Syrian Kurdish fighters that make up the bulk of the multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that with U.S. help have largely defeated Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The Turkish government says the YPG is as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since 1984.

“The leaks about the buffer zone are unworkable,” Aaron Stein, director of the Middle East programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Ahval News. “This is going to be fraught and tenuous.”

“I have a hard time accepting why the SDF would choose the U.S. proposal over the [Syrian] regime alternative, and how Moscow could then blow all this up,” he said, referring to talks the Syrian Kurds began with Damascus following Trump’s Dec. 19 announcement he was pulling the U.S.’ 2,000 troops from Syria. The Kurds hope that by ceding their border regions with Turkey to Damascus they can prevent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s threatened offensive.

Syrian Kurdish authorities have affirmed they will support the creation of a buffer zone if established and run by the United Nations or the U.S.-led coalition. But UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the UN had no plans to participate in the creation of such a safe zone.

The Kurds adamantly oppose any Turkish involvement in the safe zone.

“We really need a safe zone, but without Turkish fingers,” Salih Muslim, former co-leader of the political wing of the YPG, told Kurdistan 24. “We want a safe area with an air embargo. There must be no role for Turkey.”

Any safe zone that is 20-miles deep along the northern Syrian border would include all the major Kurdish cities in Syria.

“The problem with the buffer zone is that there is little information on how the U.S. expects to keep Turkey from attacking and destroying the SDF,” said Nicholas Heras, Middle East Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “This is the heart of the matter because Turkey’s vision for the buffer zone is for the Turkish military to control the major Kurdish population centres in northeast Syria.”

“A large component of the SDF comes from these Kurdish areas, and it is to be expected that the SDF would fight Turkey, rather than be dismantled by it,” he said. “The buffer zone concept was supposed to achieve a deal between Turkey and the SDF that allows for power sharing in northeast Syria, as a way to prevent disastrous conflict between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds. Any plan to allow Turkey to control the Kurdish areas of northeast Syria will force the SDF into conflict with Turkey because the SDF is existentially threatened by Turkey.”

Heras said the SDF was trying to reach an agreement with Russia and Syrian President Bashar Assad to prevent Turkey seizing land in Syria.

Yaşar Yakış, a Turkish former foreign minister, believes the terms buffer/safe zone are vague.

“A safe zone as it is conceived by Turkey is difficult to set up in northeast Syria. Russia, Iran, the U.S. and many members of the international community will have to be persuaded for it,” Yakış said.

He said Turkey had no means of persuading the SDF to peacefully leave the area.

“However, it may dare to achieve it by using its military power, without persuasion,” Yakış suggested. “If Turkey succeeds in persuading the U.S., Washington has the means to force the YPG to establish a safe zone. But if this is going to be a safe zone with international legitimacy, it has to be sanctioned by a U.N. Security Council resolution, which means that the permanent members of the Security Council – Russia, China, France and the UK – also have to be persuaded.”

Turkey fears the creation of a safe zone similar to the one in northern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, which led to Iraqi Kurds achieving autonomy, he said.

“This will be considered a nightmare by Turkey, as it is vehemently opposed to the emergence of any type of Kurdish entity in the north of Syria,” Yakış said.

Mutlu Civiroglu, a Syria and Kurdish affairs analyst, said Trump’s tweet suggested a preference for protecting Syrian Kurds before mentioning the 20-mile safe zone.

“It’s not clear what it really means,” he said. “Assuming the buffer zone is something the U.S. is going to initiate to protect Kurds, that would be positive and would be accepted by Kurds and their allies.”

Russia could stymie the creation of such a zone though, Civiroglu said.

“Moscow can certainly undermine not only this safe zone, but also any development in Syria since it has the power,” he said. “Its move will depend on the details. Russia has the power and capability of preventing or shaping the steps taken by Turkey, the Syrian government and any other player.”

Mustafa Gurbuz, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, said the United States had engaged in dual discourse by promising Turkey a safe zone along its southern border on the one hand and promising Syrian Kurds protection from any potential Turkish attack on the other.

“YPG leaders will not retreat in a silent matter,” he said. “The YPG will exploit U.S.-Russia competition to prevent the Turkish safe zone and, in the case of Turkey-Russia agreement, may use its ties with the Assad regime. Thus, it’s a troubling case for Turkey.”

Paul Iddon

https://ahvalnews.com/buffer-zone/distant-dream-secure-safe-zone-northern-syria

Syrian Kurds deny Trump’s claim they sell oil to Iran

Syrian Kurds deny Trump’s claim they sell oil to IranSyrian workers fix pipes from an oil well at an oil field controlled by a US-backed Kurdish group in Rmeilan, March, 27, 2018. (Photo: Associated Press)

 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Salih Muslim, the former co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), denied claims made by US President Donald Trump that Syrian Kurds have sold oil to Iran.

During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said he was not happy that the Kurds are selling oil to Iran.

“I didn’t like the fact that [the Kurds] are selling the small oil that they have to Iran, and we asked them not to do it,” the US president stated.

It was not entirely clear whether Trump was referring to the Syrian Kurds or the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.

Speaking to Kurdish journalist Mutlu Civiroglu, Muslim rejected the American leader’s claims and said there is only local use of oil by Kurds in Syria.

“I asked our people here in the administration, in the YPG [People’s Protection Units], and the others, and they said there are no sales of oil to any side outside of Syria,” the former PYD head said.

The Syrian Kurds have no borders with Iran to sell oil to them, Muslim added, “there is no way, everybody should know the reality.”

Muslim suggested Trump was referring to “other Kurds” because “Syrian Kurds have no relations with Iran.”

“We have no deal, nor sales of oil [with] them, not at all,” he said. “Maybe others are doing so, but that’s not our business.”

According to Çeleng Omer, a former university lecturer from Afrin with expertise on oil, while Iran produces four million barrels per day (bpd), Syria’s production before the war was 400,000 bpd, which equals 10 percent of Iranian oil production.

According to Omer, oil production in Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) areas in northeastern Syria is only 50,000 barrels. He said this quantity is “consumed locally by refining it in primitive refineries,” adding that Trump may have “confused the Kurds in Syria, with those in Iraq.”

“There is no border between the Syrian Kurdish region with Iran, and the oil produced in their areas is not enough to satisfy local needs, and the war destroyed a large part of the oil fields” which need to be restored before being exported, Omer explained.

“The oil produced in SDF areas meets the needs of fuel in the domestic market only.”

Nicholas A. Heras,  a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), said: “Trump’s statement could mean a couple of things.”

“One, he declassified hitherto classified info about the extent of YPG-Iranian relations in Syria. Or two, he mixed up talking points in his head from an earlier conversation with Turkey about Kurds in Iraq and Syria.”

Meanwhile, Alan Mohtadi, head of T&S Consulting Energy and Security, told Kurdistan 24 he is certain President Trump confused the Syrian Kurds with Kurds in Iraq.

Mohtadi explained that Syrian Kurdistan produces between 30-40,000 bpd, adding that almost all of the oil is used for local consumption.

“They would need to produce three to four times more, get a decent transport route (the border with the Kurdistan Region is tightly controlled), and transport it via trucks to Iran,” he said.

“This is not profitable and logistically almost impossible.”

The KRG announced in November that oil exports to Iran stopped after a new round of US sanctions were enforced.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

 

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/0b078a0a-836e-4564-aaaf-c0d30add8307

Erdogan, Trump agree to avoid power vacuum in Syria

Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed Sunday to prevent a power vacuum in Syria after U.S. ground forces withdraw, in a phone conversation days after the U.S. president shocked global partners by announcing Americans would leave the war-scarred country.
Turkey was a rare ally that lauded Trump’s momentous decision to pull the 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, where they have been helping assisting in a multinational fight against ISIL.
“The two leaders agreed to ensure coordination between their countries’ military, diplomatic and other officials to avoid a power vacuum which could result following any abuse of the withdrawal and transition phase in Syria,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
Hours earlier Trump had tweeted that he and Erdogan “discussed ISIL, our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area.” Erdogan tweeted shortly thereafter, saying the two leaders “agreed to increase coordination on many issues including trade relations and the developments in Syria,” dubbing the call “productive.”
U.S. troops will leave under the auspices of a new Pentagon chief set to start next month, after Jim Mattis resigned from the post citing key differences, including on Syria, with the often-impulsive Trump.
An American exit would allow Turkish troops to move against Kurdish fighters in Syria who have played a key role in the war against ISIL but are deemed terrorists by Ankara. Many U.S. politicians and international allies fear the withdrawal is premature and would further destabilize the already devastated region.
A U.S. withdrawal, said Mutlu Civiroglu, a Kurdish affairs analyst, will open the way “for Turkey to start its operations against the Kurds, and a bloody war will begin.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said he “deeply regretted” Trump’s decision, and that “an ally must be reliable.” Several U.S. politicians from both parties rejected Trump’s claim that ISIL had been defeated, and many in the US military expressed alarm and dismay at the thought of suddenly abandoning Washington’s Kurdish partners.
And Trump’s sudden decision sparked turmoil within his administration, prompting the resignation of Mattis as well as of Brett McGurk, the special envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition.
Plans for the troop withdrawal will now be overseen by Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who Trump on Sunday said would replace Mattis starting January 1.
Source(s): AFP