ISTANBUL -  Pointed out that there was a blockage in Turkey's policies towards Kurdish gains,  Journalist Fehim Taştekin said: "The AKP administration was waiting for an opportunity to attack Northern and Eastern Syria before the election."

 

While the civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011 and caused the death of millions of people, is leaving its 12th year behind, attempts for a permanent solution have not yielded any results. The governments of Türkiye and Syria came together years later with the mediation of Russia. Iran was recently added to the talks. After the four-way meeting between the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Russia, Iran and Syria in Moscow, the capital of Russia, the decision to "continue negotiations" was made. Uncertainty continues as to where the talks will evolve. On the one hand, Turkey is negotiating the gains of the Kurds at the table, on the other hand, it continues its attacks on Northern and Eastern Syria. Journalist Fehim Taştekin made evaluations to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) about the developments he was following closely.

 

THE AIM OF TURKEY

 

Noting that  joint arrangements regarding borders were desired within the framework of the Adana Agreement signed between Ankara and Damascus in 1998, Taştekin said: “However, the problems are very different from 1998 and the situation on the ground has become very complicated. In the last 10 years, no approach has been taken to respond to this situation. The Geneva and Astana talks are also lacking in this sense; therefore, we cannot look at it as a solution platform that will fully respond to Syria's problems. Turkey entered in 2011 with the support of the United States, with the plan and enthusiasm to become the master of the region. But that did not happen and many plans were updated. Currently, there is an autonomous structure formed under the leadership of the Kurds in the region. Turkey organized military operations to prevent the autonomous structure created in Syria from gaining status in the future. While this partially succeeded, they did not ultimately bring the project down. It wants to repeat the military occupation of Afrin by Turkey in Tel Rifat, Manbij, Kobani and other regions. In order to achieve this goal, it wants to establish a common political stance by making an agreement with Damascus. The main issue is that any Kurdish-led structure in Syria does not attain a constitutional status."

 

'THERE IS A BIG BLOCKAGE'

 

Stating that Turkey will continue to see the status of Kurds in other regions as a threat as long as it does not reconcile with the Kurds within itself, Taştekin said: "If a peace process had started inside, the developments in other regions would have been welcomed a little more gently. Unfortunately, the confrontational strategy required Turkey to continue this conflict beyond the border. This is not logical, nor is it humane. It was a choice of the government. Now I have to say that it is clogged. All the military operations to destroy Turkey's Kurdish presence across its borders by military means and the political pressures carried out through its partners did not yield the desired results. There is a big blockage. After this point, it became inevitable for a new process to start both internally and externally. The government is not in a position to make such a maneuver in terms of capacity and is aware of this; however, the components of power to which Erdoğan currently owes his seat do not allow this. That's why, although they are very aware of the incident, they are currently delaying the point it has reached in the international community."

 

CRIMES IN AFRİN

 

Drawing attention that 4 people who wanted to celebrate Newroz were killed by Turkish paramilitary forces in the Cindirês district of Afrin, Taştekin said: "These groups carried out such an attack in order to protect the 'rant authorities'. The authority there is also an authority of rent and no one wants this authority to be shaken. Afrin is very sensitive. The people of Afrin are a resistant people, they have an organization. They think that any resistant demonstration there will lead to larger demonstrations, so they prefer to suppress it violently. What they really fear is the crimes committed by the groups settled in Afrin. These groups have committed humanitarian and financial crimes there. Their files are very heavy. Turkey unfortunately works with these. These crimes are also the crime of Turkey. Turkey is acting comfortably for now due to its international position, but when conditions change, they are international. These are the files that can be the subject of the courts. There is a control war here. What happened after the earthquake is a part of this."

 

DECISION OF INACTION

 

In addition to all these developments, Taştekin said that the "inaction" decision taken by the KCK in the region after the earthquakes in Maraş centered on February 6 and extended until the elections on May 14 was carefully followed. Taştekin said: "This ceasefire decision is being watched carefully from the outside. Now, it is not known whether this will turn into a practical solution ground or how it can be transformed; however, since there is a very harsh election process under these conditions, the ruling wing does not want to abandon its confrontational, provoking and war-fed tactics and strategies. On the contrary, he may try to get results by terrorizing the situation. When we look at the statements made, there is no positive approach in favor of peace, but a language that favors terrorism. This shows the strategy that the government will follow in the election process."

 

ATTACK ON ROJAVA

 

Stating that the government is waiting for an opportunity to attack Northern and Eastern Syria, Taştekin said: "This attack has not taken place until today because there was no approval of America and Russia. It is not clear what kind of strategy AKP President Tayyip Erdoğan will follow with the upcoming elections. Erdoğan predicts that he will not win in the first round; however, it is not known whether he will start a war to win the majority in the second round after the Parliament has achieved the majority or, on the contrary, will take the Parliament majority and do something extraordinary about the Kurds; however, among these accounts, the attack on Rojava stands at number one. That's why we can't say it won't happen. Erdoğan can do many things to win. We have to think that anything is possible.”

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal