Syrian troops mass at edge of Kurdish town threatened by Turkey

[DonViejo]

Source: The Guardian


Kurdish appeal for help follows Trump’s surprise decision to pull US military out of Syria

Bethan McKernan Middle East and Turkey correspondent

Fri 28 Dec 2018 06.32 EST

Syria’s military has arrived at the frontline of the flashpoint town of Manbij, as Kurdish fighters appealed to Damascus for help in the face of the imminent threat of attack by Turkey.

It was not immediately clear whether US personnel, who have been patrolling Manbij and the tense frontline between it and adjacent towns where Turkey-backed fighters are based, were still present. The US-led coalition against Isis did not respond to a request for comment.

“We invite the Syrian government forces … to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion,” a statement from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) said.

The Syrian army had already mobilised before the public Kurdish invitation. It said on Friday morning that units had entered the town on the western bank of the Euphrates.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/28/syrian-kurdish-militia-manbij-turkey

[watoos]

1. I hope this works out for the Kurds.

since they have no other choice since Trump abandoned them. Will Assad protect the Kurds from Turkey/Russia?
Is there a rift between Assad and Putin/Erdogan?

[watoos]

2. Or did Putin and Assad stiff Erdogan?

If Putin and Assad protect the Kurds from Turkey what message does that send to the world?

American allies can't trust Trump to protect them.

[Javaman]

3. so much winning. maybe we should ask the kurds about that. nt

[angrychair]

4. While we are at it

We should ask the Kurds in Southern Iraq too for Bush. The last thing Kurds should ever do is trust a republican to keep their word.

[JackRiddler]

13. The Kurds are in northern Iraq

You may be thinking of the uprising at the end of the of the 1991 Gulf war, by Shia in the south and Kurds in the north of Iraq, after they were called to revolt by Bush - who sold them out by cutting a deal with Saddam that allowed Iraqi army attack helictopters to fly.

[angrychair]

14. Yea

Exactly...thought later that I might have been a little geographically challenged.

Sentiment still stands though

[SergeStorms]

5. And so it begins.

How much blood will be on the hands of the "commander in thief".

[pangaia]

6. Putin wins.........

Boy, THAT didn't take long....

Fucking fascist republicans can all rot in hell. Every one of them...

[IronLionZion]

7. Kurds have always been abandoned by America, over and over and over

Which might discourage other groups of people from allying with America in future military engagements.

And any future Dem administration should reevaluate our country's relationship with Turkey.

[watoos]

8. The thing is,

if our closest allies get sensitive top secret information, will they hesitate to share that info with Trump?

We are much less safe having a traitor for a president.

[Cold War Spook]

9. What does that say about the US,

when its supposed ally, the Kurds, have to ask its supposed enemy for protection? If it gets any weirder, I wonder how many members of NATO will ask Russia if they can become members of the Soviet Union?

[Devil Child]

10. Kurdish media is reporting the SAA has been invited at request of YPG

The Syrian army announced on Friday that its forces had entered the northern city of Manbij following a call by the Kurdish YPG for government troops to control the city and "protect these areas against a Turkish invasion."

"Stemming from the complete commitment of the Syrian Army in assuming its responsibilities to impose sovereignty to each inch of the Syrian territories and in response to calls of locals of Menbej city, the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces announces the entry of units of Syrian Arab Army to Menbej city and the hoisting of the Syrian Arab flag," read a statement from the army using a different spelling from Manbij, reported state-run SANA news Agency.

The deployment came after the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) declared their withdrawal and invited government forces to enter the city.

"Due to the invading Turkish state’s threats to invade northern Syria and displace its people similarly to al-Bab, Jarablus and Afrin, we as the People’s Protection Units, following the withdrawal of our forces from Manbij, announce that our forces will be focusing on the fight against ISIS on all the fronts east of the Euphrates," read a statement from YPG.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/28122018

This move is a check against further Turkish incursions into previously held territory by SDF.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

11. K&Fuckin'R

[xor]

12. This continuing CF has been expected for years.

How many of us were discussing something similar to this situation four or three years ago? Of course Trump hasn't bothered to do anything to attempt to find any sort of political solution.