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Turkey’s buffer zone plan, invasion of Syria: Activist

Wednesday, 10 February 2016 6:08 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 10 February 2016 6:27 PM ]

This file photo shows Turkish armored vehicles that took part in an operation inside Syria sitting near the Mursitpinar border crossing in the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa Province.

Press TV has interviewed Don DeBar, an activist and commentator in New York, to discuss Turkey’s plan to establish a buffer zone in northern Syria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: This deal with Turkey wanting this zone to create a buffer zone as they call it has been on Turkey’s mind for a while. Do you think they are going to move on it now?

DeBar: Well it is pretty scary the idea that they are thinking of doing it first of all and they have stated that they will do it and I am hoping that some cooler heads are going to push that back and also the Saudis have made the same statements although the Saudis are not part of NATO, so there is a whole layer that goes with Turkey’s move into that area.

Now the area that they are talking about first of all is part of the Syrian state. Syria has a recognized government, that has a seat at the United Nations and consequently the insertion of troops into that country’s borders without the permission of the government is an invasion by law. So we are talking about Turkey invading Syria illegally. That is a direct violation of law [assent] to UN Security Council resolution approving it and authorizing it and it would not take place under the UN’s leadership by the way as well.

It is not possible for Turkey to maintain military forces in that area to withstand for example Russian air power and the Syrian Arab army which operate in that area and which are going to seal off the border with Turkey which has been the source of arming, funding and supplying the ISIS (Daesh) and other terrorist groups that are in Syria.

So there is going to be the possibility, a very real possibility of military engagement and since Turkey cannot do that without US air support, air wacks and all of that, we are talking about if Turkey does it, they are doing it with the US’s assent and in the context of all of the basing of American military hardware around Russia’s borders all from the Baltics all the way down to where we are fighting in Syria, essentially, that is a very scary proposition.

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