Link to the article: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-opposition-uneasy-after-turkish-syrian-defence-ministers-meet-2023-01-04/
Syrian opposition groups were left uneasy after Ankara and Damascus governments discuss at high levels since the start of the Syrian war in 2011. Turkey reassures their support for the groups by continuously providing a base and fighting alongside armed rebels against President Bashar al-Assad’s troops. On December 28th Turkish and Syrian defense ministers met regarding the topics of migration and Kurdish militants based on Syria’s border with Turkey on the agenda. Groups are labeling these meetings between Russia, Turkey, and Syria as dangerous deviations. Due to such tense actions, The Syrian National Coalition opposition group met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and gained clarity on the continuation of Turkey’s support of “Syrian opposition institutions and Syrians in the opposition-held areas.” Cavusoglu also mentioned that the meetings in Moscow with Syrian officials were regarding the fight with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the northeast. Turkey also recognizes the YPG militant group as a terrorist organization. It’s also noted that President Erdogan called Assad a “terrorist” whereas Assad called Erdogan a thief for “stealing” land previously. But recently in the past year, the meetings have paved the way for the defense minister summit.
Kurdistan is a fictional country that the Kurds believe should belong to them. They date back thousands of years. The only problem with this is that Kurdistan would be part of Northern Iraq, Eastern Syria, and South Eastern Turkey. Iraq doesn’t have much power to declare whether or not the Kurds can be recognized and Syrians have been at war with the Kurds forever. The Kurds are in link with political groups that get support from the United States that are against the Syrians and Bashar al-Assad. Turkey that’s apart of NATO is aligned against Syria and thus the Turks have been fighting in northern Syria against Syrian forces. This all somewhat doesn’t really matter though because the Turkish government is now talking to the Syrian government at the military level. Having a meeting with the defense ministers of Turkey and Syria makes those “groups” nervous that Turkey will withdraw their support resulting in them reaching out to confirm support from Turkey, in which they agreed to against Syria. Though, thinking rationally, how serious are the Turks about supporting these groups against the Syrian government after just having a meeting with them? There’s a shift in where the Turks are putting their attention. The number one reason behind the Kurds haven’t succeding yet is that the Turkish government doesn’t want a Kurdistan in South Eastern Turkey.
In class we’ve discussed the irrationality of countries when it comes to doing whatever is necessary to maintain their survival, which ties back into the answer of my own question of how serious the Turkish are about supporting those groups. Turkey is obviously going to pertain to those groups that receive support from the United States because then they’d get in trouble for not due to the fact they’re in NATO. Hence why Turkish defense minister told the Syrian National Coalition opposition group that they wouldn’t cause any problems for them. Despite having said that, Turkey is still clearly having some sort of relations with Syria defense minister discussing the recent Kurd activity and that they are adamant about determining their own policy.