Turkey says Russia stopped deal for Syrian forces to help Afrin Kurds

The move illustrates the increasingly tangled battlefield in northern Syria, where local alliances and rivalries in a multi-sided civil war now entering its eighth year are coming into collision with the diplomatic manoeuvres of global powers.

Turkey launched an assault last month to drive the Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a threat, out of northern Syria’s Afrin region.

The YPG asked Damascus - a political rival in the war - to send soldiers to help repel the Turkish attack, and a Kurdish official said on Sunday that an agreement had been reached for the army to deploy there.

“The (deployment) was seriously stopped yesterday,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters. He said the decision was taken after he asked for Russia to intervene in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin.

Turkey and Russia have been two of the main outside powers supporting opposite sides throughout the war, with Moscow the closest ally of President Bashar al-Assad and Ankara one of the principal supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow him.

However, recent months have seen Turkey lend support to a Russian-led diplomatic effort intended to bring the war to an end with most population centres firmly in the hands of Assad’s government. Ankara, meanwhile, said last month that it had sought Moscow’s agreement before launching the assault on Afrin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the Afrin crisis could be resolved through direct negotiations between Damascus and Ankara.

Damascus has not commented on the possible deal to deploy in Afrin, or on Erdogan’s comments that it had been called off. However, Syrian state media said on Monday that pro-government militia known as “Popular Forces” would deploy imminently in Afrin to help against the Turkish assault. Pro-government media said some had begun to arrive on Tuesday.

Syrian Kurdish officials have said in recent days that they suspected Russia of trying to block the deal with Damascus.

“Russia has a main role in this issue,” said Fawza Youssef, a leading Syrian Kurdish politician. She added that she believed Moscow wanted to have leverage with Ankara in its wider diplomatic efforts on the Syrian war.

“They are the ones who agreed with the Turks for this aggression to happen. Either they’d have to stop their agreement with Turkey or get on board” with the deployment of Syrian government forces in Afrin, she said.

While a Kurdish official had said there was a deal with the Syrian government, the YPG itself had denied that a final deal was ever reached.

The Turkish offensive has made gains along almost all Turkey’s border area with Afrin, pushing several km (miles) in and seizing villages. But the YPG still holds most of the region including its main town, also called Afrin.

“The besieging of the Afrin city centre will start rapidly in the coming days,” Erdogan said on Tuesday, adding that this would cut off outside aid. “The terrorist organisation will not have the means to negotiate with anyone,” he added, referring to the YPG.

Kurdish political leaders have said they were forced to seek help from Assad’s military because no foreign powers would help them against Turkey in Afrin.

Russia had deployed military police in Afrin last year to shield against an assault by Turkey and its rebel allies, but they pulled out last month before the Turkish offensive began.

The United States has armed the YPG as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance it backs against Islamic State. U.S. troops are on the ground in other parts of Syria run by the Kurdish-led administration, but not in Afrin.

Washington’s support for the YPG has caused deep ructions in its relations with its NATO ally Turkey. In the case of the Afrin offensive, Washington has said it supports Turkey’s right to defend itself, while calling for Ankara to show restraint.

On Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister vowed that the Turkish assault would continue. He said Ankara would accept a Syrian army deployment to help drive out the YPG, but would confront any effort by Damascus to help the Kurdish forces.

Assad’s government and the Kurdish forces have mostly avoided direct confrontation during the war, both focussing their fire mainly on other foes, although they have clashed occasionally. The Kurds seek autonomy in regions they hold, while Assad has pledged to assert control over all of Syria.