MESOPOTAMIA NEWS LATEST : THE AFRIN MODEL FOR THE BUFFER ZONE

 24 Jan 2019 – VOA reports that Turkey now foresees a kind of Afrin model for the whole of the proposed “buffer” zone which would include construction of housing and return of millions of mostly Arab refugees to northern Syria, but also have long-term affect on changing primarily two Kurdish regions, since it is parts of those regions that Ankara is most obsessed with as the US prepares to withdraw.

Of particular interest are details about how it plays into Turkish electoral politics and also the Turkey-Russia connection and reviving the economy of Turkey while rebuilding Syria. For Turkey it is an opportunity to strike at the YPG while also sending refugees back, to a re-ordered version of northern Syria, a Cyprus-Afrin model, which would be a long term commitment from Turkey and have major ramifications.

Currently the US and Turkey do not agree on the “safe zone” and Russia has urged the Kurds to work with Damascus, but this report at VOA, quoted below, hints at much larger plans. As one saw with Afrin, these plans can come to fruition. It may also be part of a deal to reduce HTS influence by trading part of Idlib in return for Russian support for the “safe zone,” since Russia increasingly holds many cards.

More via www.mesop.de