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10/10/19

EU-Digest editorial: Turkey - Northern Syria - Incursion: Turkey's military operation has made one thing more clear - the world has become a far more dangerous place than it already was

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any military operation must fully respect the UN Charter and international humanitarian law (LOL) - unfortunately nobody listens to them anymore.

EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker demanded Turkey to halt its military operation, telling Ankara the bloc would not pay for any so-called "safe zone" that might be created.  Sure, he probably does not believe that statement himself  !!!  (LOL).

The EU's top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini warned that "unilateral action on Turkey's part threatens concerted action by the West and Turkey and other countries to defeat ISIL".

Turkish military action, she said, risked "protracted instability in northeast Syria, providing fertile ground for the resurgence of Daesh". 

Obviously this EU response had no "bite" to it, since the EU does not have its own military force, or the  backing among its members to support such actions, and, unfortunately, because they still closely follow US directives, when it comes to their foreign affairs policies. 

Erdogan also threatened  that he would be sending back all the  + 3 million refugees who were in Turkey, to the EU, if the EU continued to condemn Turkey's  incursion into Syria. That obviously is the last thing the EU wants, not even having a comprehensive policy on Migration in their "back-pocket".

Chief Jens Stoltenberg of NATO (another unneeded US military relic from the past in Europe), urged Turkey to show "restraint", while acknowledging that Ankara had "legitimate security concerns".( LOL ) - as he was obviously told to say that by the US, which controls NATO. 

As to the US Trump Administration- the US President, who has been rightly accused of double-crossing the Kurdish fighters, crucial in the war on ISIS, by pulling US troops out of the war-torn country,made another one of his brilliant statements and said: "the Kurds didn't help us in the Second World War; they didn't help us with Normandy”. He added the Kurds were only willing to help with “their land”, and concluded  "With all of that being said, we like the Kurds.”  

At least this drama is giving the President of the US a moment of relief from the ever louder cries in his country for his impeachment. Hopefully the country does not forget to get rid of him a.s.a.p.

China voiced concern over the Turkish incursion in Syria, urging Ankara to exercise restraint and calling on all parties to respect Syria's sovereignty. However deep down, "China must be laughing all the way to the bank, looking at the lunatic actions of the US Trump Administration"

Russian reactions to the incursion were more complicated:   What’s already clear is that deeper divisions are likely to emerge among Russia, Iran, and Turkey, three actors that previously had mostly been united in their opposition to U.S. interests in the region. Though in recent months leaders from Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara—as the so-called Astana Group—have been working toward conflict resolution in Syria through the framework of the Russia-led Syrian constitutional committee, disagreements among them have prevented serious progress. As Turkey stages its incursion into territory previously held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Russia’s reaction has been rooted in a mix of implicit apprehension and explicit platitudes about integrity and restraint. The Kremlin’s frustrations will grow as Turkey expands its attacks in a way that further risks the constitutional committee’s progress and jeopardizes Bashar al-Assad’s consolidation of power.

And so, the sad result of the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops from Syria abruptly, without prior consultation with its allies, is a guarantee that the eight-year conflict in Syria will rumble on with no end in sight. 

©   EU- Digest

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