TURKEY’S invasion of Syrian territory on Sunday morning marks yet another dangerous step in the country’s bloody conflict. 

However, it also reflects the deepening split between Turkey and the United States as they desperately attempt to retain a foothold in the country after the Syrian government regained control over large parts of the country in the past 12 months. 

The British left needs to be clear that as log as the US/Nato military presence continues in Syria no peace deal, nor a broader reconciliation process will be possible 

Mockingly named Operation Olive Branch, the invasion saw Turkish infantry, special forces, armoured units and Ankara’s proxy allies in the so-called Free Syrian Army cross the Syrian border after hours of multiple air strikes and artillery shelling of territory around the city of Afrin.   

The Turkish military build-up has been weeks in the making as relations between the US and its fellow Nato member Turkey have further unravelled. 

The Turkish invasion followed days after an explosive US announcement that it was supporting the creation of a 30,000 strong Border Force based on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 

The SDF is itself largely based on the People’s Protection Units (YPG) established by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) of Syria, which is in turn closely linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. 

The Turkish general staff claimed on Sunday to have “hit 153 PYD/PKK and Daesh targets in Syria’s Afrin.” 

However, the reference to Islamic State (Isis) is a deception, the real target is the PYD/SDF.

Ankara sees no difference between the PKK against which it has fought a prolonged and bloody war inside and outside of the borders of the Turkish state, and its Syrian counterpart. 

Its stated aim is to create a “safe zone” covering nearly 4,000 square kilometres off Syrian territory and wipe out the 8,000 or so “terrorists” — referring to the SDF. 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also went public last week on the US plan to keep its forces of around 2,000 military personnel inside Syria for the foreseeable future.

Tillerson’s remarks enraged Ankara and he was forced to downplay his statements after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan furiously attacked the plan. 

“A country we call an ally is insisting on forming a terror army on our borders,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. “What can that terror army target but Turkey? Our mission is to strangle it before it’s even born.”

Whatever name is given to the force, the US is once again funding, training and organising military forces inside a sovereign foreign state.

“What the American administration has done comes in the context of its destructive policy in the region to fragment countries … and impede any solutions to the crises,” Syria’s state news agency Sana countered.

The new military force is the creature of the Combined Joint Task Force — Operation Inherent Resolve, which is headquartered at a US base in Kuwait. 

The task force is essentially US military-led and includes, in a junior capacity, personnel from other “coalition” countries, such as Britain.

Colonel Thomas F Veale, public affairs officer of the task force, told the Defence Post on January 13 this year that “the coalition is working jointly with the SDF to establish and train the new Syrian Border Security Force (BSF). 

“Currently, there are approximately 230 individuals training in the BSF’s inaugural class, with the goal of a final force size of approximately 30,000.”

The right-wing Turkish daily Yeni Safak reported that 20,000 regular Turkish soldiers have been deployed in the campaign, and that the Turkish-controlled Free Syrian Army units number a further 15,000 fighters. 

This wing of the FSA has been rebranded as the “Syrian National Army” by its Turkish military masters.

The PYD controls two main strips of territory in northern Syria, one is centred on Afrin and the other on Manbij further to the east. 

Both strips are on the sensitive Turkish-Syrian border but Manbij is the base of US operations inside Syria. By targeting Afrin, Erdogan is avoiding the possibility of a direct clash between Turkish and US forces. 

Ankara knows exactly where these US special forces are. Last July, Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu published an extremely helpful map of supposedly secret US installations.

The map pinpointed two air bases and eight military points in PYD-controlled areas as well as US special forces located in Hasakah, Raqqa and Manbij.

In addition, and to the grave embarrassment of the Macron government, Anadolu generously shared information that around 75 French special forces soldiers were stationed alongside US units in the town of Ayn Issah within the Tell Abyad district of Raqqa, and that there were more French units south of the town of Ayn al-Arab.

Reuters quoted Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon as saying: “The release of sensitive military information exposes coalition forces to unnecessary risk and has the potential to disrupt ongoing operations to defeat Isis. 

“While we cannot independently verify the sources that contributed to this story, we would be very concerned if officials from a Nato ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information.”

Another reason for choosing Afrin is that the region is also home to a sizeable non-Kurdish population, including ethnic Turkmen.

For several years, Turkey has sponsored terrorist groups among Syria’s Turkmen minority. The Turkmen are closely related culturally and linguistically to the Turks to their north. Most Turkmen settled in Syria during the later Ottoman period. Erdogan has referred to them as “our brothers and sisters.”

Before the opening of the conflict they had complained of discrimination by the ruling Ba’ath Party, which prioritised Arab identity.

From the early days of the anti-Assad movement, Turkmen militias were closely co-ordinated by the Turkish military. 

It was Turkmen militias which were involved in the killing of a Russian fighter jet pilot in November 2015, shot down by the Turkish air force while in Syrian airspace. 

The killing was claimed by Alpaslan Celik, a commander in one of the Turkmen brigades. However, Celik was soon revealed to be the son of a Turkish mayor belonging to the fascist National Action Party (MHP), whose policies blend ultra-right and expansionist pan-Turkish chauvinism. The younger Celik was identified as an activist in the Grey Wolves, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party’s youth wing.

In a recent interview with Anadolu, Tarik Solak described as Bayirbucak Turkmen Region’s 2nd coastal armed division commander, said: “Syrian Turkmen people know what PYD/PKK is after in Turkey and Syria … We always support Turkey. May Allah bless Turkey.”

For the Kurdish national movement, its current de facto alliance with the US military can only end in further tragedies for the Kurdish people, who have a heroic record of resistance to Isis and a defiant pride in maintaining their identity despite widespread attempts to erase it. 

For the Kurds, it seems that unfortunately the political and military leaderships of the PYD/SDF are following the same mistaken strategy of opportunistically aligning with outside powers that has historically bedevilled the Kurdish cause in the region.

During his speech last week, Tillerson made it perfectly clear that the rights of the Kurdish people are not top of the White House agenda, instead it serves the common interests of the two most important US allies left in the region, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“US disengagement from Syria would provide Iran the opportunity to further strengthen its position in Syria. As we have seen from Iran’s proxy wars and public announcements, Iran seeks dominance in the Middle East. As a destabilised nation and one bordering Israel, Syria presents an opportunity that Iran is all too eager to exploit,” Tillerson said.

Ending the Turkish invasion is an essential immediate first step.

However, the British left and anti-war movement needs to be clear that as long as the US/Nato military presence continues in Syria no comprehensive peace deal, no recognition of Kurdish autonomy by Damascus, nor a broader reconciliation process among the peoples of Syria will be possible. 

US strategists may no longer believe that they can effect regime change in Syria but they can continue to bleed it slowly. The Kurdish people have shed too much of their own blood over the years to tie their fate to Trump and Tillerson.