Russia-Turkey talks on Ain Issa and SDF opposition
ISWNews Analysis Group: According to field reports, a Russian and Turkish military delegation discussed the fate of the town of Ain Issa in the village of Shrekrak, northeast of Ain Issa.
During the meeting, the Turkish delegation strongly called for the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the city of Ain Issa, stating that this is the only way to stop the clashes in the Ain Issa area. However, the Turks have promised the Russian side that the clashes will be temporarily suspended until the SDF decides on this.
On the other hand, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) refuse to accept this and they are not willing to leave the town of Ain Issa.
In recent weeks, clashes and tensions in the Ain Issa area have reached their peak; The clashes are unprecedented since the end of Turkish Peace Spring Operation east of the Euphrates. Tensions and military operations by Turkish militants to advance in the region escalated to the point that the SDF was eventually forced to call for help from the Russian military police and Syrian army forces to prevent Turkish militants from advancing on Ain Issa.
It is worth mentioning that the Syrian and Russian army forces were present in a number of posts along the M4 route and around the town of Ain Issa in the past, but the control of this town is in the hands of the SDF.
Now, with the arrival of the Russian military police and the Syrian army in Ain Issa and the establishment of several new military posts in the region, tensions have eased but this is not enough.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, led by Shahin Jilo, a well-known PKK commander, on the one hand has called on Russia and Syria to help SDF against the Turkish army attacks, but on the other hand, he opposes the withdrawal of SDF from the Ain Issa. This has happened many times in the past in northern Syria, and the SDF has tasted defeat every time.
In the Afrin region, the SDF, which now leads the Syrian Kurds, refused to hand over Afrin to the Syrian and Russian armies to prevent the Turkish army operation in the area, and not just lost the Afrin, rather, a large area in the northwest of Aleppo province was occupied by Turkey.
and SDF after loosing a large areas of northeastern Syria to Turkey and its militants, finally was forced to call for help from the Syrian and Russian armies. Although this procrastination led to the loss of large areas east of the Euphrates…
Now, in the case of Ain Issa, the SDF repeats the same mistake of Afrin and refuses to surrender the town to the Syrian army.
It seems that the Syrian Democratic Forces, given that they are fully supported by the United States militarily and politically and are the tool of the US military in Syria, instead of focusing on the interests of Syria, pursue US goals in Syria and then their ethnic goals. It is too simplistic to assume that the SDF does not realize this and repeats a mistake several times; Rather, this is happening deliberately, and they prefer that the Syrian territories be occupied by Turkey but not controlled by the Syrian army.
Comment