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Turkey understandably alarmed at Syria ceasefire: Analyst

Thursday, 25 February 2016 9:01 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 25 February 2016 9:00 AM ]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed David Lindorff, an investigative journalist in Philadelphia, to discuss the remarks made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) should be excluded from the peace plan in Syria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Turkey makes it sound like if this was agreed upon that it would somehow go ahead and maybe rethink its strategy but yet no matter what, even [with] a ceasefire announcement, it has said it is going to still target the YPG. So why would it make this request at this time? What is this angle?

Lindorff: Well I think Turkey is understandably alarmed at a ceasefire that would allow the Kurds, the YPG forces, in Syria to control area along the Turkish border because they are having an enormous problem in Turkey with the repression and response to repression by the Kurds in their own country, and Kurds having control of territory along the northern part of Syria under Turkey provides a safe haven and arms transit and personnel transit for the Kurdish forces within Turkey.

So it does put a strain on Turkey to have that possibility but I think they are going to have to face it and the question I have is if Turkey does fire artillery into Syria to attack Kurdish positions, YPG positions inside Syria, it does raise questions of how first of all Russia would respond and Syrian forces.

So you do have the possibility of the ceasefire breaking down at least along the border if Turkey insists on doing that and also a wider war if it leads to a response by Russia and/or Syria.

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