The Takeaway: Syria's Kurds turn to US as Turkey threatens ground operation
Plus, a look at Iran's enrichment activities, twin bombings in Jerusalem and the detention of another US citizen in Saudi Arabia.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns of a possible new ground incursion into neighboring Syria, officials from the Kurdish-controlled region are pleading with the Biden administration to intervene.
Ilham Ahmed of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political arm of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, has written to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the administration to speak out forcefully against a potential Turkish invasion, Al-Monitor has learned.
In a letter to Blinken sent Tuesday, the SDC’s executive committee president described concerns that Turkey was seeking to occupy new Syrian land with its threatened ground incursion. Ahmed argued that a renewed offensive would undermine the SDF's ability to fight the Islamic State as well as secure the notoriously overcrowded Al-Hol camp that’s holding displaced families linked to the extremist group.
Ahmed’s appeal comes as Turkish warplanes continue to target towns across northern Syria in apparent retaliation for a bombing on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured more than 80 others in central Istanbul. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and in her letter, Ahmed denied any involvement by the SDF.
