Turkey: Kurdish involvement in Raqqa could trigger ‘sectarian battle’

Relying on Kurdish militias in an offensive to take the Syrian city of Raqqa from Daesh could trigger prolonged ethnic conflict and Arab fighters should instead form the core of the operation, Reuters reported a senior Turkish official as saying.

Speaking from Ankara, the unnamed official said planned offensives in Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, Daesh’s de facto capitals in both countries, should avoid causing further polarisation in nations already grappling with bitter sectarian divisions.

“Raqqa is an Arab city with a million people. If you carry out an operation to this city with 7,000-8,000 Kurdish forces, you would trigger a sectarian battle,” the official said. “That conflict would enflame all our border region.”

Turkey also views the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia as a hostile terrorist force, an extension of militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) waging an insurgency on Turkish soil. Ankara’s stance puts it at odds with Washington, who sees the YPG as a valuable ally in the fight against Daesh although it has also classified the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Turkey, which launched its first major military incursion into Syria last month to try to push Daesh back from its border and stop Kurdish fighters gaining ground, has meanwhile been discussing a planned operation in Raqqa with the United States, officials have said.

However, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said last week that Turkey would not take part in the Raqqa operation if it involved YPG fighters.