Türkiye ‘building up forces’ on Syrian border – WSJ

Türkiye and its militia allies are reportedly building up their forces near the Syrian border in what is speculated to be preparation for a large-scale incursion into Kurdish-held territories, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing senior US officials.

According to the outlet’s sources, the forces include militia fighters and Turkish commandos, as well as large amounts of artillery. The buildup is reportedly taking place near Kobani – a Kurdish-majority city in Syria on the northern border with Türkiye.

One of the US officials told the WSJ that Washington is now focused on pressing Ankara to hold off on the cross-border operation.

Meanwhile, Ilham Ahmed, an official in the civilian administration of the Syrian Kurds, has reportedly sent a letter to US President-elect Donald Trump, asking him to convince Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to deploy his troops.

“From across the border, we can already see Turkish forces amassing, and our civilians live under the constant fear of imminent death and destruction,” Ahmed wrote in the letter seen by the WSJ.

The official raised concerns that the Turkish operation could be imminent, and warned that Ankara’s goal appears to be to “establish de facto control” over Kurdish territories before Trump takes office in January.

According to Ahmed, this would force Trump to engage with Türkiye as “rulers of our territory” and would have “catastrophic” consequences.

Last week, the US-backed, Kurdish-based Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported that it had already come under Turkish artillery and drone attacks.

In response, US Senator Lindsey Graham warned Türkiye, a NATO member, that it could be targeted by sanctions if it continues to attack US-backed Kurdish forces, which he said had helped destroy ISIS.

“We have to ensure that the roughly 50,000 ISIS prisoners in northeastern Syria – being primarily held by Kurdish forces – are not released,” he wrote on X, adding that while Ankara has “legitimate concerns regarding different groups” in the region, an ISIS jailbreak would be “a nightmare for America.”

Following the fall of former President Bashar Assad’s government to opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists, virtually the entire western part of Syria has come under the control of the armed opposition, many of whom are supported by Türkiye.  

However, the territory in the east and northeast remains under the control of the SDF. Türkiye considers the armed units of the Syrian Kurds to be involved in terrorist activities.