Turkey’s recent escalation of threats toward northern Syria is not ordinary diplomatic posturing. Ankara is laying the groundwork for a new military operation, and the process is now too obvious to conceal. In Qatar, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for “the elimination of non-Syrian elements within the SDF[Syrian Democratic Forces]” and the surge of military buildup along the border, along with successive visits to the region by high-level commanders.
This follows the three-stage model Turkey has employed in every previous intervention: rhetorical escalation, military preparation, and the search for international legitimacy. These threats didn’t emerge in a vacuum. From December 2024 through May 2025, Turkish forces and Islamist militia groups launched months-long assaults on the SDF to seize the strategic Tishrin Dam in the Euphrates basin. Despite air support, these operations failed. Now Ankara is attempting, through diplomatic pressure, what it couldn’t achieve on the battlefield.
Presidential adviser Mehmet Ucum’s recent writings laid bare the state’s true intentions: “Goals unattainable through terrorism cannot be reached through law and democracy either.” This sentence encapsulates how Ankara views Kurdish actors. The political space will be narrowed, and force will be used if necessary. (Read More)
