Turkey calls for international coalition to intervene on ground in Syria

As a government offensive threatens to cut off the last supply line to rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and as efforts to bring a diplomatic solution to the war falter, there has been increased chatter among international backers of the Syrian opposition about the possibility of putting boots on the ground.

Tanks stationed at a Turkish army position near the Oncupinar crossing close to the town of Kilis, southern Turkey, fire towards the Syria border on February 16, 2016. Bulent Kilic/AFP

BEIRUT // Turkey on Tuesday called for an international coalition to intervene on the ground in Syria as a planned cessation of hostilities between government and rebel forces in the country looked increasingly doubtful.

“We want a ground operation with our international allies,” said a senior Turkish official. “There is not going to be a unilateral military operation from Turkey to Syria.”

“Without a ground operation it is impossible to stop the fighting in Syria,” the official added.

It came as the United Nations said the Syrian government had agreed to allow access for humanitarian aid to reach seven besieged areas of the war-torn country.

Turkey has been giving mixed messages in recent days over whether it is willing to launch a ground operation inside Syria.

Tuesday’s call for a coalition to send troops to Syria came after Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia and Turkey could launch ground operations in Syria to confront ISIL.

But on Monday, Turkish defence minister Ismet Yilmaz said “there is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria”.

As a Syrian government offensive threatens to cut off the last supply line to rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and as efforts to bring a diplomatic solution to the war falter, there has been increased chatter among international backers of the Syrian opposition about the possibility of putting boots on the ground.

US defence secretary Ash Carter said on Friday that Gulf states were willing to provide special forces that would work with American special forces in eastern Syria to “organise and enable” local rebels to retake Raqqa, ISIL’s self-declared capital.

The following day, Saudi Arabia said it was ready to participate “if the coalition should decide to deploy special forces in the fight against IS in Syria”, while Turkish foreign minister Mr Cavusoglu said Riyadh would be sending fighter jets to Turkey’s Incirlik airbase.

While proposals for on-the-ground military intervention have focused on combating ISIL, the presence of foreign troops in Syria could potentially bolster opposition forces by dissuading Russian and Syrian bombing campaigns.

Is Syrian rebels are allowed to enter areas where foreign troops are active then intervention would also create de facto safe zones for the opposition.

But although Saudi Arabia and Turkey have appeared eager in pushing for an intervention, they have made it clear that they would only intervene as part of a coalition – presumably one with US leadership.

Turkey’s willingness to get more deeply involved in Syria has been highlighted in recent days by their shelling of the Kurdish YPG militia after the group began seizing territory from rebels fleeing the government’s offensive and attacking other rebel groups north of Aleppo.

Ankara accuses the YPG of working in the interest of the Syrian government and Russia. It is also fearful that a stronger YPG presence along its border could embolden Kurdish militants at home.

On Monday, the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Arab military coalition, pushed their offensive into the shrinking area rebels north of Aleppo still hold and captured Tal Rifaat, a town about 20 kilometres south of the Turkish border.

Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria puts the United States, which formally backs the YPG, in a difficult position. The US has requested that Turkey halt its attacks on Kurdish forces and has also pushed for calm between Ankara and Russia, which has called Turkish attacks on the YPG “provocative”.

The latest talk of a possible military intervention in the conflict comes as hopes for a cessation of hostilities negotiated by international powers in Munich last week grow dim.

On Monday, Syrian president Bashar Al Assad voiced doubt that the planned cessation of hostilities would be successful.

“They are saying they want a ceasefire in a week. Who is capable of gathering all the conditions and requirements in a week? No one,” he said.

Meanwhile, the main Syrian opposition grouping has still not agreed to a pause in fighting.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura met with Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem in Damascus on Tuesday in an effort to to kindle the planned cessation of hostilities.

Following the meeting, the Syrian government gave the green light for aid convoys to enter the besieged areas of Deir Ezzour, Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib, and Madaya, Zabadani, Kafr Batna and Madamiyet Elsham in rural Damascus.

“Humanitarian agencies and partners are preparing convoys for these areas, to depart as soon as possible in the coming days,” said Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

But despite this, the continuation of the government’s offensive and Russian air strikes is making a temporary truce look unlikely any time soon.

The United Nations said nearly 50 people were killed in the bombings of five medical facilities and two schools in Syria’s Idlib and Aleppo provinces on Monday. One of the medical facilities destroyed was supported by Médecins Sans Frontières.

Russia denied that its planes struck the facility.

International reaction to Monday’s air strikes were strong, with France saying the attacks “could constitute war crimes” and Turkey accusing Russia of an “obvious war crime”. UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said that if the strikes were deliberate and intentional, they would in fact constitute war crimes.

EU president Donald Tusk said Russia’s continued aerial campaign supporting the Syrian government “leaves little hope” for a solution to the conflict.

The US state department, referring to Monday’s air strikes, questioned Moscow’s role in the peace process, saying “that the Assad regime and its supporters continue these attacks ... casts doubts on Russia’s willingness and/or ability to help bring a stop to the continued brutality of the Assad regime against its own people”.

* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse