The Guardian: The war in Syria threatens to escalate on at least three frontsThe presence of Turkish, Israeli and Russian aircraft in the skies over Syria confirms that the war is not over and threatens to escalate on at least three fronts, writes The Guardian.
The open Syrian issue is increasingly clouding the situation in an already troubled region.
Martin Chulov (MartinChulov)Regional interests are still at stake, although they are often forgotten
When a military plane flies over the plains of northern Syria, people on the ground can tell by its characteristic roar who it belongs to and whether they need to hide.
In the last few days, the task has become more complicated, since the air forces of three countries are in the Syrian sky at once. They are carrying out large-scale airstrikes, which have not been seen for three years, from the Mediterranean coast to the deserts in the east.
The presence of Turkish, Israeli and Russian aircraft confirms that the war in Syria is not over and threatens to escalate on at least three fronts. And even now, when the world is focused on the Ukrainian conflict, the unresolved Syrian issue is increasingly clouding the situation in an already troubled region.
The shelling began early on Saturday morning, when the Israeli Air Force attacked several sites along the coast and in the center of Syria. Loud explosions were heard in Latakia, as well as in the cities of Hama and Homs, where, with the support of Russia and Iran, Assad's forces restored strongholds after a grueling 11-year war. Syrian officials have reported the deaths of at least four soldiers as a result of the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on Iran-linked targets, where many believe they produce components for modern weapons of the Lebanese Hezbollah. Israel considers this group to be the heart of Iran's regional military interests and an existential threat to the country's existence.
On Sunday, Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish positions in northeastern Syria followed, after which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aggressively warned of an impending ground offensive on Kurdish centers where his government wants to accommodate 1 million Arab refugees who face imminent expulsion. A few hours after his statements, Kurdish militants launched a rocket attack on a Turkish border town, killing at least two and wounding a dozen others.
The few remaining Russian planes in Syria took to the skies on Sunday evening and early Monday morning, with the support of the Syrian military, hitting areas of Idlib near the Turkish border.
“We recognize Russian and Syrian planes by the sound," said an internally displaced Syrian named Mustafa Shabanda. — They are old, you can hear them from afar. With Turkish, everything is different: they appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. But we are not afraid of them, they are hunting for the Kurds. As for the Israelis, the last time I heard them was last year near Hama, when they attacked the army of Bashar [Assad]. They all control our sky.”
Turkey has carried out numerous airstrikes on targets in northeastern Syria in retaliation for the explosion that killed six people in Istanbul last week, for which Ankara blamed the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The airstrikes are considered harbingers of a ground invasion aimed at linking the Turkish-controlled border town of Jerablus with the city of Tel Abyad.
Over the past three years, Turkey has strengthened its position in this area, partially fulfilling the task of pushing the Kurds away from the border. Turkish officials have long considered the PKK's presence in northeastern Syria to be favorable ground for an insurgency by Kurdish rebels, which it has been fighting for more than 40 years in southeastern Turkey, preventing them from forming an independent state.
In Turkey itself, before the proposed ground operation, some Syrians returned to the border zones, and the strengthening of anti-Syrian rhetoric is causing fear among the population.
“Now we are putting things in order," said one regional Turkish official. "It's time to put an end to this war.”
For some, the end, and for many others who witnessed the first days of the anti—Assad uprising in 2011, is a new era. This refers to the main participants in the conflict: Turkey, which actively supported opposition groups; Russia, which helped Assad, who was in a hopeless situation, to win at least some victory; and Israel, which has been playing cat-and-mouse with Iran on the territory of Syria ever since.
“The war in Syria could have sunk into oblivion," said Dr. Lina Khatib. — But the ongoing airstrikes by Turkey, Russia and Israel show that regional interests are still at stake, and each of the three countries is trying to prevent rivals from strengthening influence in Syria. This serves as a reminder that the Syrian conflict cannot be considered either isolated or a civil war involving exclusively Syrians. Regional and international interests have always played a role here, which is confirmed by regular Turkish, Russian and Israeli bombings.”
A representative of the predominantly Kurdish "People's Self-Defense Units" (YPG)Merva Syamend says the following: “The Turks bombed a number of targets in northeastern Syria with the help of UAVs and planes, allegedly in retaliation for the explosion in Istanbul. They blamed it on the YPG, but we don't resort to that. We believe that the terrorist attack was staged by Turkish intelligence in order to kill two birds with one stone: to provide an excuse to attack us and speed up the sending of Syrians back to the Turkish-occupied areas of Syria.”
