NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg showed considerable understanding towards the invasion during his visit to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Casuvoglu. “I understand Turkey’s legitimate concerns regarding the Syrian Kurds, but I am worried that the Turkish offensive might undo the victory over the terrorist group IS,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg is concerned that the tens of thousands of IS terrorists held prisoner will take advantage of the chaos to escape from the prisons where they are detained by the Syrian Kurds.
NATO finds itself in an uncomfortable situation. European member states are furious because U.S. President Donald Trump seemed to have given Turkey the green light in Syria earlier, although he is now backtracking. At the same time, Turkey remains an important NATO member, despite recent tensions in relations. For example, Turkey opted to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system instead of an American alternative.
As a result, the U.S. now refuses to deliver new F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, even though they had been ordered. President Trump is also issuing various financial and economic threats to his Turkish counterpart Erdogan. Zealous Republicans in American politics apparently made clear to Trump that he is ceding U.S. influence in Europe and the Middle East to the Russians.
Meanwhile, at the front lines it has become clear that Russian units have taken positions in the area between the Syrian government army and the advancing Turkish troops. The Turks, supported by Syrian rebels, are targeting Kurdish militias. The Kurdish militias have thus chosen to yield the territory they had captured back to the Russians and the Syrian government forces rather than be destroyed by the Turks or pro-Syrian Kurds.
In geopolitical terms, this seems to mark a reversal in the balance of power: the United States is no longer the major power that can intervene militarily in the Middle East; that role has now been assumed by Russian President Putin. The Russians already have their own airbase in Syria, and a Mediterranean port in southeast Turkey is increasingly within reach.
Furthermore, NATO no longer faces the Russians only at the eastern (Polish) and northeastern (Baltic Sea) borders, but now also at the southern (Turkish) edge of Europe.
Three days after the start of the Turkish offensive against the Kurds in Syria, an estimated 100,000 civilians have fled in the country. This is according to a report by the United Nations. Most people are escaping in cars, buses, trucks, or on foot from the border towns where fighting is taking place toward the south. Many are being housed in schools and other buildings.
They are not only afraid of the violence of war but also of possible atrocities by the pro-Turkish Syrian rebels advancing with the Turks. Many of these fighters are extreme jihadists who have previously committed violence against non-Muslims and other populations.