Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War

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Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
Part of the Military intervention against ISIL
size
Territories controlled by the ISIL (Gray), YPG (Yellow), Free Syrian Army (Green), Syrian Government (Red) or contested in northern Syria, as of late September 2015, south of the border with Turkey.
Date 2011 – present
(4 years)
Location Syria
Status
  • Turkish airstrikes on ISIL positions in Syria.
  • Turkey is experiencing clashes between border troops and ISIL militants.
  • Turkey Provides Weapons to the Syrian Opposition.
Belligerents

Turkey Turkey


Syrian Turkmen Brigades

Free Syrian Army
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIL Syria Syria
Commanders and leaders
Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu
Turkey Hulusi Akar
Ebu Bekir Muhammed Abbas
Albay Ahmed Berri
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Ala al-Afri
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Ali al-Anbari
Syria Bashar al-Assad
Syria Maher al-Assad
Syria Ali Abdullah Ayyoub
Strength
685.862 military personnel, 668 aircraft 31,500 - 100,000 178,000 military personnel, 320 aircraft
Casualties and losses
2 pilot, 2 border guards killed
1 F-4 shot down
35 militant killed 3 pilot, 12 border guards killed
1 Mi-17 shot down
1 MiG-23 shot down
1 Mohajer 4 shot down
19 civilians killed

Turkey, whose relations with Syria had been friendly over the previous decade, condemned its President Bashar Assad over the violent crackdown on protests in 2011 and requested his departure from office. Turkey trained defectors of the Syrian Army on its territory, and in July 2011, a group of them announced the birth of the Free Syrian Army, under the supervision of Turkish military intelligence.[1] In October 2011, Turkey began sheltering the Free Syrian Army, offering the group a safe zone and a base of operations. Together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey has also provided the rebels with arms and other military equipment. Tensions between Syria and Turkey significantly worsened after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish fighter jet in June 2012, and border clashes erupted in October 2012.[2]

Turkey also provided refuge for Syrian dissidents. Syrian opposition activists convened in Istanbul in May to discuss regime change,[3] and Turkey hosts the head of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al-Asaad.[4] Turkey has become increasingly hostile to the Assad government's policies and has encouraged reconciliation among dissident factions. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been trying to "cultivate a favorable relationship with whatever government would take the place of Assad."[5] Beginning in May 2012, some Syrian opposition fighters began being armed and trained by the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation.[6]

Turkey maintains a small enclave within Syria itself, the Tomb of Suleyman Shah on the right bank of the Euphrates in Aleppo Province, near the village of Qarah Qawzak (Karakozak). The Tomb is guarded by a small permanent garrison of Turkish soldiers, who continue to rotate in from a battalion based at the Turkish border some 25 kilometres (16 mi) away, even as the civil war unfolded around them.[7] Up until Syrian forces shot down a Turkish warplane in June 2012, the garrison numbered 15 men in total. Following the incident, the Turkish government doubled the number of soldiers stationed at the tomb to 30, while then-Prime Minister Erdoğan warned that "the tomb of Suleyman Shah and the land that surrounds it are Turkish territory. Any act of aggression against it would be an attack on our territory and NATO territory." Analysts have cited the tomb as a potential future flashpoint in Turkish-Syrian relations.[8]

Plans to invade or interfere in Syria[edit]

Invasion plans (2014)[edit]

On 27 March 2014 an audio tape recording of high-level Turkish officials discussing Turkey's Syria strategy was released on YouTube.[9] The officials discussed a false flag operation that would lead to an invasion of Syria. YouTube was subsequently blocked in Turkey.

Rumored invasion and airstrike plans (2015)[edit]

With the governing party losing its majority in the Turkish general election, 7 June 2015, rumors began to circulate that President Erdoğan would order an invasion of Syria to prevent the creation of a Kurdish state straddling there and in Iraq.[10]

26 June, Erdogan said he would "never allow the establishment of a Kurdish state in northern Syria".[11] End of June, a number of Turkish newspapers reported that Ankara was considering a ground operation to establish a buffer zone in Northern Syria to prevent Syrian Kurds to declare an independent state,[12] a zone of 110 km long and 33 km deep, along the Turkish border.[11]

The military demanded legal backing for such a move,[13][14] and on 29 June 2015, Erdoğan chaired a meeting of the National Security Council to provide just that.[15]

Leaked plans stated that sometime during the first couple of weeks in July, up to 18 thousand troops would invade Syria via the Jarablus and Aazaz border crossings, areas in the hands of ISIL and the Free Syrian Army respectively, and set up a buffer zone to which refugees could be repatriated.[16]

Limiting intervention to airstrikes has also been discussed.[17] The idea of going into Syria proved extremely unpopular with most sections of Turkish society, and the government first backed down.[18]
But on 24 July 2015, Turkey decided to military intervention in Syria (see section The July crisis and Military escalation).

The vote in Parliament[edit]

A vote in the Turkish Parliament was scheduled for October 1, 2014 on whether or not to invade Syria as part of the war on ISIL.[19] while preparations for a possible invasion were made.[20] It was later delayed a day.

The de facto "declaration of war" is to take the form of two separate motions—one on Iraq and one on Syria, which would authorize Turkish troops to invade those countries.[21] the opposition said they hadn't been able to read either motion, as the exact text had been delayed.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said that the gist of the resolutions was to extend the current mandate for "hot pursuit" against the PKK and Syrian Army into Syria and Iraq, which was to end the second week in October, and to add ISIS to the list and set up a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border.[22]

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the parliamentary session by saying that Turkey would fight against so called Islamic State and other "terrorist" groups in the region but it would stick to its aim of seeing Bashar al-Assad removed from power.[23]

After two days of heated debate, the motion passed 298-98,[24]

Turkey and Syria's regime[edit]

Numerous incidents along the Syrian–Turkish border have taken place during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. Dozens were killed, both among civilians and military personnel. Following Syria's downing of a Turkish jet in 2012, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan changed the military's rules of engagement so that any Syrian element approaching the border would be deemed a threat and be treated as a military target.[25] Turkey has bolstered its defenses and deployed additional troops on its border with Syria in mid to late September 2013, with convoys of military vehicles ferrying equipment and personnel and additional short range air defenses set up.[25]

December 2011 incidents[edit]

During the 5 December 2011 night, about 35 armed fighters tried to cross the border of Syria from Turkey, but were engaged immediately by the Syrian border forces who inflicted several wounds to them and were able to repel them back to Turkey. Once they were back on Turkish soil, the Turkish army allegedly picked them up in trucks and took care of the injured fighters. A further attempt happened during the night of 12 December, when 15 infiltrators tried again to cross the border. They were unsuccessful and two of them were killed by Syrian border patrols.

June 2012 F4 jet incident[edit]

On 22 June 2012, Syrian air defenses shot down a Turkish F-4 Phantom fighter jet,[26] and both pilots were killed.[27] The incident significantly raised tensions between the two countries.[2][28] Syria stated that it had shot the fighter down using anti-aircraft artillery near the village of Om al-Tuyour, while it was flying over Syrian territorial waters one kilometer away from land.[29] Turkey's foreign minister stated the jet was shot down in international airspace after accidentally entering Syrian airspace, while it was on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities.[30] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed retaliation, saying: "The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed ... Turkey will support Syrian people in every way until they get rid of the bloody dictator and his gang."[31] Ankara acknowledged that the jet had flown over Syria for a short time, but they said such temporary overflights were common, had not led to an attack before, and alleged that Syrian helicopters had violated Turkish airspace five times without being attacked and that a second, search-and-rescue jet had been fired at.[31] Assad later expressed regret over the incident.[32] In August 2012, reports appeared in some Turkish newspapers claiming that the Turkish General Staff had deliberately misinformed the Turkish government about the fighter's location when it was shot down. The reports said that a NATO command post at Izmir and a British base in Cyprus had confirmed that the fighter was shot down inside Syrian waters and that radar intelligence from U.S. forces had disproved any "accidentally entered Syrian waters" flightpath error. The General Staff denied the claims.[33]

October 2012 cross-border clashes[edit]

Tensions were further raised later that year when Syrian mortar rounds began landing in Turkish territory. On 3 October, a Syrian mortar shell hit the Turkish town of Akçakale, killing 5 civilians.[34] Turkey responded by shelling Syrian army positions along the border.[35] Throughout October, Syrian mortar shells repeatedly landed in Turkish territory, and the Turkish military launched retaliatory artillery and mortar strikes, firing into Syria a total of 87 times. These attacks reportedly killed 12 Syrian soldiers and destroyed several tanks.[36]

January 2013 incident[edit]

In the early hours of 14 January 2013, a shell fired by unknown Syrian forces landed in an olive grove near the border village of Akçabağlar, causing no casualties.[37] On January 30, Syrian El Muhaberat agents tried to cross the border between Turkey and Syria but were turned back under fire by Turkish forces.

February 2013 bombing[edit]

On 11 February 2013, a bomb exploded at the Turkısh-Syrian border crossing in Cilvegözü, killing 14.[38] According to BBC, the deadly attack killed 17 people and injured 30 more.[39]

April 2013 border air raid[edit]

On April 30, 2013, according to Syrian opposition activists, the Syrian air force raided the headquarters of a rebel camp on Syrian-Turkish border, killing 5.[40] Activists told Hurriyet Daily News that the air attack was made on headquarters of a Salafist group Ahrar al-Sham. A Turkish aid worker said the air strike also hit a warehouse on the Syrian side of the border used by aid groups. Another Syrian activist at Bab al-Hawa said people waiting to cross the Syrian-Turkish border were among those hit. He added that at least 15 wounded were taken to hospital near the crossing on the Syrian side and among the dead were a one-and-a-half-year-old child and two teenage girls. Some Syrian activists said some of the casualties were suffering breathing difficulties but said they did not know what type of munitions had been used in the attack. "We cannot confirm that there were any chemical weapons involved," Reyhanli mayor Huseyin Sanverdi told Reuters.

May 2013 Akçakale incident[edit]

On 2 May 2013, fighting occurred between Syrian anti-government insurgents and Turkish border guards at the Akçakale border crossing. One Turkish border guard was killed in the engagement, reportedly the first armed clashes between Turkish government agents and anti-Assad militants.[41]

2013 helicopter incident[edit]

On September 16, 2013, Turkish jets shot down a Syrian helicopter on the Syrian-Turkish border.[25] According to Turkish official statement, Turkish warplanes made the intercept after a Syrian Mi-17 helicopter had crossed into Turkish airspace and the government warned it had taken all necessary measures to defend itself against any further such violations. Syrian army acknowledged the helicopter had strayed into Turkish airspace for a short time, while monitoring "terrorists" moving across the border into Syria, but said it was an accident and that the aircraft was on its way back when it was shot down.[25]

January 2014 incident on the Syrian Kurdistan border[edit]

Five Syrian Kurds were killed while crossing borders into Turkey on January 20, 2014.[42] Zahir Mulla and Muhammad Ahmad were killed along with other three men (whose identities couldn't be identified), when Turkish border guards opened fire.[citation needed]

March 2014 Turkish shootdown of a Syrian aircraft[edit]

On 23 March 2014, Turkish fighter jets shot down a Syrian MiG-23. The Syrian Arab Republic claims that its aircraft was in Syrian airspace on a mission to attack rebel held areas in the city of Latakia when it was shot down by Turkey in an act of "blatant aggression." The Syrian pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft as the aircraft was being shot down.[43] Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan stated that Turkish F-16s shot down the aircraft for violating Turkish airspace and said that the Turkish "response will be heavy if you violate our airspace."[44]

May 2015 Turkish shootdown of a Syrian UAV[edit]

On 16 May 2015, a Turkish Air Force F-16 shot down an Iranian made Mohajer 4 UAV that had violated Turkish airspace over Hatay province entering 11 km into Turkish airspace. The UAV was downed with two missiles. Initial claims by the Turkish government mentioned an intruding helicopter was shot down, but later it was admitted that the downed aircraft was an UAV as claimed by the Syrian side.[45][46]

Turkey and ISIL[edit]

Turkey has, despite national and international criticism, largely refused to directly engage militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), despite continued threats from ISIL to pursue more operations on Turkish soil. The Turkish response to the ISIL-led Siege of Kobanî as well as a series of terrorist attacks on Turkish soil allegedly linked to ISIL perpetrators, was largely subdued apart from a series of incidents on the Turkish-Syrian border. On 24 July 2015, ISIL and Turkish soldiers actively engaged in the Turkish border town of Kilis, marking a dangerous new escalation in the ties between Turkey and ISIL.[47]

On August 25, 2015 Turkish newspaper Bugün ran a front-page story showing alleged transfer of weapon and explosives from Turkey to ISIL through Akcakale border post. A couple of days later offices of Koza İpek Media Group, the owner of the newspaper, were raided by Turkish police.[48][49]

Turkey and Rojava[edit]

Further information: Siege of Kobanî

With the Turkish government thinking that the declaration was enough, and with only a minimum of western airstrikes helping the defenders of Kobanî, ISIL troops edged closer to the city, eventually entering it from the south and east.[50]

Feeling betrayed by the Turkish government and hearing that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's previous vow not to let Kobanî fall was in fact a lie, refugees on the border and citizens in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Antakya, Antalya, Eskişehir, Denizli, Kocaeli, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Batman, and elsewhere began to protest. Turkish police responded with tear gas and water cannons, and live fire in the southern province of Adana, killing protestors.[51][52]

By 7 October, ISIL militants and Kurdish defenders were fighting in the streets of Kobanî, with many dead and scores wounded on both sides.[53] American and Arab states conducted airstrikes in support of the defense of the town. However, US officials acknowledged that airstrikes would not likely be decisive in preventing the fall of Kobanî. They described the air campaign as a broad effort to undermine ISIL's ability to operate rather than an intervention that could turn the tide of a particular battle, such as the one at Kobanî.[54]

As the battle for Kobanî continued to rage, rioting continued in Turkey, and almost 40 people were killed in street clashes by mid-October. In late October, ISIL began shelling the border post near Kobanî.[55]

On 11 October, Turkish President Erdogan denounced the protests, claiming that they were attacking Turkey's "peace, stability, and environment of trust." He stated that the government was already caring for 200,000 Kurdish refugees from the Kobanî area and asked, "What does Kobanî have to do with Turkey?"[56]

By mid-October, fighting had also renewed between Turkish military forces and PKK elements in southeastern Turkey.

On 29 November 2014, ISIL fighters began attacking YPG fighters in Kobanî from Turkish territory.[57] Kurdish sources in Kobane said that on November 29 ISIL fighters attacked Kobane from Turkish territory, and that the assault began with a vehicle driven by a suicide bomber coming from Turkish territory. During the attack, a group of ISIL fighters were seen atop granary silos on the Turkish side of the border.[58][59] According to the German news outlet 'Der Spiegel', ISIL fighters also attacked YPG positions near the border gate from Turkish soil.[60] According to the SOHR, YPG fighters crossed the Turkish border and attacked ISIL positions on Turkish soil, before pulling back to Syria. Soon afterwards, the Turkish Army regained control of the border crossing and silos area.[61]

On 25 June 2015, fighters from ISIL launched an attack against Kobanî, detonating three car bombs.[62] The ISIL fighters were reported to have disguised themselves as Kurdish security forces, before entering the town and shooting civilians with assault rifles and RPGs.[63][64] Over 164 people are dead and 200 injured, making the attack one of the largest killings of civilians in the North of Syria.[63]

Kurdish forces and the Syrian government claimed the vehicles had entered the city from across the border, an action denied by Turkey.[65] ISIS also committed a massacre in the village of Barkh Butan, about 20 kilometres south of Kobanî, executing at least 23 Syrian Kurds, among them women and children.[66]

The July crisis and Military escalation[edit]

In July 2015, relations between ISIL and Turkey deteriorated, and people on the Turkish side of the border began to get killed, leading the Turkish government to pursue military action.

7 July: Turkish seizure of explosives[edit]

On 7 July 2015, reports surfaced that Turkish security forces seized a truck bound for Syria loaded with 10,000 detonators and explosive primers with total length of 290,000 metres (950,000 feet) in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey. Five people were arrested. The detainees admitted attempts of crossing the border from the village of Aegean into Tal Abyad city in the Al-Raqqah Province.[67]

20 July: ISIL terrorist attack[edit]

Main article: 2015 Suruç bombing

On 20 July 2015, a cultural center in Suruç was bombed by a 20-year-old male Turkish ISIL member.[68] 32 people were killed in the town of Suruç's municipal culture center in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, and at least 100 people were hospitalised.[69]

23 July: cross-border fire fight[edit]

One Turkish sergeant was killed by fire from ISIL forces in Syria, and four Turkish tanks returned fire into ISIL held territory in Syria.[70] At least one ISIL militant was killed and an unknown number wounded.

24 July: Airstrikes begin[edit]

Early on 24 July, three Turkish F-16 Fighting Falcons struck ISIL targets across the border from Kilis Province with smart bombs, the Turkish government announced.[71] According to the Doğan news agency, as many as 35 ISIL militants were killed in this first air strike.[72]

The Turkish government claimed that this was to prevent an attempted invasion by ISIL troops.[73]

Government officials also announced that the US was allowed to use the İncirlik Airbase in southern Turkey, and the agreement by the Americans to allow Turkey to set up a no-fly zone fifty miles deep and several hundred miles wide within Syria, between Mare' and Jarabulus.[74][75]

24–25 July: Simultaneous strikes against PKK[edit]

The Turkish military has simultaneously launched airstrikes against alleged PKK bases in Iraq.[76]

Refugees[edit]

Satellite images confirmed that the first Syrian camps appeared in Turkey in July 2011, shortly after the towns of Deraa, Homs and Hama were besieged.[77] By June 2013, Turkey has accepted 400,000 Syrian refugees, half of whom are spread around a dozen camps placed under the direct authority of the Turkish Government.[78] In 2014, the number swelled over a million, as some 200-300,000 Syrian Kurds streamed into Turkey in September alone, upon the Siege of Kobane.

The population of Syrian refugees in Turkey has 30 percent in 22 government-run camps near the Syrian-Turkish border.[79] The rest do their best to make ends meet in communities across the country.

Turkey has accepted over 1.5 million Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.[80] Turkey has accommodated most of its Syrian refugees in tent cities administered by the country's emergency management agency.[81]

Related criticism of Turkey[edit]

Turkey has been accused of supporting or colluding with ISIL, especially by Syrian Kurds.[82][83] According to journalist Patrick Cockburn, there is "strong evidence for a degree of collaboration" between the Turkish intelligence services and ISIL, although the "exact nature of the relationship ... remains cloudy".[84] David L. Phillips of Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights, who compiled a list of allegations and claims accusing Turkey of assisting ISIL, writes that these allegations "range from military cooperation and weapons transfers to logistical support, financial assistance, and the provision of medical services".[85] Several ISIL fighters and commanders have claimed Turkey supports ISIL.[86][87][88] Within Turkey itself, ISIL is believed to have caused increasing political polarisation between secularists and Islamists.[89]

Turkey has been further criticized for allowing individuals from outside the region to enter its territory and join ISIL in Syria.[90][91] With many Islamist fighters passing through Turkey to fight in Syria, Turkey has been accused of becoming a transit country for such fighters and has been labeled the "Gateway to Jihad".[92] Turkish border patrol officers are reported to have deliberately overlooked those entering Syria upon the payment of a small bribe.[92] A report by Sky News exposed documents showing that passports of foreign Islamists wanting to join ISIL by crossing into Syria had been stamped by the Turkish government.[93] An ISIL commander stated that "most of the fighters who joined us in the beginning of the war came via Turkey, and so did our equipment and supplies",[88] adding that ISIL fighters received treatment in Turkish hospitals.[88]

Turkey reported that between 1957 and 1998, Turkish forces laid 615,419 antipersonnel mines along the Syrian border “to prevent illegal border crossings,” These mines are killing Syrians stuck on the border or trying to cross near Kobani. Turkey is required under the Mine Ban Treaty, to destroy all antipersonnel mines, but has missed deadlines. Human Rights Watch claims in its report that as of November 18 over 2,000 civilians were still in the Tel Shair corridor section of the mine belt due to the fact that Turkey had been refusing entry for cars or livestock, and the refugees did not want to leave behind their belongings.[94]

Also, authorities in Turkey have confirmed social media reports that an injured ISIL commander is being treated in a Denizli hospital, saying the militant has every right to receive medical care as he is a Turkish citizen.[95]

See also[edit]

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