Erdogan even suggested that extending the area further south would allow for the settlement of three million Syrians—and relieve immigration pressures on Europe, as well.
“As we have determined on this matter, we have already started necessary preparations,” Erdogan concluded, hinting that if his demands were not met, he was prepared to attack.
Responding to Erdogan’s speech, Riyadh Derrar, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm of the SDF, advised Kurdistan 24 that the talk was an attempt to “blackmail” Europe.
Moreover, Derrar suggested that Turkey’s involvement was unnecessary for resettling refugees.
“We (the self-administration in northeastern Syria) can do that,” Derrar said. “We can take back Syrians who are originally from the area east of the Euphrates without conditions,” while “Syrians from other regions can come under certain conditions, until a peaceful settlement is achieved.”
Derrar added that the SDC takes the Turkish threats seriously, even as he noted that the US presence in the area has “prevented Turkey from any further escalation or invasion until now.”
Ilham Ahmed, the other SDC co-chair, who is currently visiting Washington, similarly told Foreign Policy that, despite the US measures, they continue to be quite concerned about a Turkish attack, given Erdogan’s bellicose rhetoric.
Asked about Erdogan’s harsh position, a Pentagon spokesperson told Kurdistan 24, “The US recognizes Turkey’s legitimate security concerns along its southern border,” and “our goal in establishing a security mechanism” there “is to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
“We believe the mechanism will also contribute to the overall security of the region,” she continued, “including creating conditions that could attract refugees from northeast Syria to voluntarily return to their homes in accordance with UNHCR guidelines.”
In his UN speech, Erdogan also took a tough stance on Israel, quite at odds with that of the Trump administration.
He called for a return to the borders that existed before the 1967 war, when Arab armies, led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, mobilized along those frontiers. Israel responded with a pre-emptive strike in which it defeated the Arab armies in six days and took possession of the Sinai, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.
It was a spectacular military fiasco, and Israel offered to return almost the entirety of those territories in exchange for peace. But the Arabs famously responded with three noes: no peace, no recognition, and no negotiations. Over 50 years later, that offer is not really on the table anymore.
Yet Erdogan called for “the immediate establishment of an independent and homogeneous Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 border, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
“I am asking from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly, where are the borders of the state of Israel? Is it the 1948 borders? The 1967 borders? Or is there any other border?” Erdogan stated, before taking a swipe at the peace plan, being worked out by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.