Kurds Expect Coalition Forces to Help Stop Turkish Op in Syria's Tell Abyad

Sputnik News

18:49 26.05.2017(updated 21:20 26.05.2017)

According to information received from sources in the Free Syrian Army, Turkey is preparing for an air and ground operation in the Syrian city of Tell Abyad, which is controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

There is also a large Turkish military presence present along the border strip.

It has been reported that, at the moment, there is only one significant obstacle for the operation of the Turkish Armed Forces in Tell Abyad and that is the presence of the US soldiers in the area.

A spokeswoman for the self-defense units of the Kurdish YPG and women's defense forces (YPJ) division, Nesrin Abdullah, in an interview with Sputnik commented on the situation saying, "Turkey wants to carry out the operation together with some jihadist organizations. However, we represent a serious force on land, and we are training against this Turkish interference. If Turkey carries out an operation against us, we will defend our people," Nesrin said.

She further said that the YPG and the YPJ will also defend their lands. The Democratic forces of Syria, which include YPG and YPJ, will also defend Tell Abyad.

"Together with the coalition forces, we have already managed to liberate significant territories. We also believe that the US and the coalition forces will participate in the defense of Tell Abyad, against which Turkey intends to conduct an operation," Nesrin said.

According to one of the leaders of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), Ewwas Eli, if a ground operation is carried out against Tell Abyad, the coalition forces will defend the city.

He also said that when, four months ago, Turkey was preparing to conduct a ground operation in Tell Abyad, the coalition forces entered the city and put up their flag.

Talking about whether the Syrian Democratic Forces have the resources to conduct such an operation, Eli said that the forces who are winning in the fight against Daesh will be able to protect Tell Abyad.

According to Eli, "Turkey attaches great importance to Tell Abyad because it is located between the cantons of Kobani and Jazir. Turkey seeks to prevent the unification of the Kurdish cantons," Eli said.

Earlier, it was reported that Turkey has ostensibly spent three months training a large rebel force planning to deploy them against the YPG, a commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) told Sputnik Turkey on condition of anonymity.

"Turkey is in the process of creating an army manned by FSA fighters to carry out an operation against the YPG. This force will also be tasked with patrolling the security zone between Jarabulus and Idlib. This training has been ongoing for three months. Turkish Special Forces have led a training program lasting 45 days in Gaziantep and Kilis. Syrians from Idlib, Aleppo, Damascus and Hama have enrolled in this program. They have freely joined the FSA. These are mostly ethnic Turkmen or Arabs. There are some Kurds as well," the source said.

The Ankara-trained FSA force is said to consist of 10,000 fighters.

The FSA commander named the cities of Manbij, Afrin and Tell Abyad as the primary targets of Turkey's upcoming operation.

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