Turkey relying on events to turn tide against Kurdish YPG
A Turkish military operation in northern Syria does not appear to be in the cards, but Ankara is determined to use the threat of one to curb Kurdish aspirations.
Turkey’s much-threatened military operation against the People's Protection Units (YPG) east of the Euphrates River in Syria remains unlikely for the foreseeable future due to political and military obstacles.
Ankara is determined, however, to keep the heat on the American-backed Kurdish group — which the Turkish government says is a terrorist organization — and continues to insist that the option for a military operation remains on the agenda.
The belief in Turkish government circles is that this threat is helping limit support for Kurdish political aspirations because it has shown that plans that exclude Ankara will have undesirable consequences for the region.
Ankara also thinks that, politically speaking, the situation in northern Syria has been developing to the YPG’s disadvantage since President Donald Trump announced in December that American forces would be withdrawn from Syria.
