US has 20 military bases in northern Syria, claims Russia

Arab and Kurdish fighters from the Self-Defense Forces take part in a graduation ceremony on March 1, 2018, in the Qamishli region. The US is known to have military outposts and airstrips in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria. (AFP / Delil Souleiman)

ANKARA: Moscow has accused the US of adding to the turmoil in Syria by establishing several military bases on territory controlled by Kurdish rebels.
Alexander Venediktov, an official from Russia’s Security Council, claimed Washington had built some 20 bases in the north of the country and was meddling in the conflict by arming Kurdish separatists with advanced weapons.
“The return of peace and stability to Syria is hampered by continued external interference in the Syrian crisis,” he said, according to the RIA news agency.
Venediktov is an aide to Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. His comments were the latest salvo in the ongoing war of words between the two international powers, who see Syria as a key battleground in their rivalry for strategic supremacy in the Middle East.
Speaking on Thursday, he also accused Washington of provoking Turkey into launching a major military offensive in northern Syria earlier this year by backing Kurdish separatist rebels that Ankara regards as terrorists.
His remarks came after Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the commander of US Central Command, issued a withering critique of Russian involvement in the seven-year-war.
Addressing the House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tuesday, Votel said: “On the diplomatic front, Moscow is playing the role of arsonist and firefighter” by fueling the war between the Syrian regime, Turkey and Kurdish rebels “then claiming to serve as an arbiter to resolve the dispute.”
Votel, who oversees all US troops in the Middle East, also warned that Russia is “trying to cultivate multi-dimensional ties to Iran” as they both share “an overarching desire to sideline, if not expel, the US from the region.”
Key to these heated exchanges is the role of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia backed by Washington in the fight against Daesh. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization and claims it has links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — a group blacklisted by the EU and the US.
America denies the two groups are connected but the YPG’s strength continues to alarm Ankara. On Jan. 20, Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch,” a military incursion aimed at routing Kurdish separatists around Afrin in northern Syria. It claims 2,222 militants have been killed, captured or surrendered since the operation began.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the US to “show consistency” and stop supporting the YPG. Turkish and US officials are due to meet for talks in Washington on March 8, following weeks of growing tensions between the two sides.
Enes Ayasli, a research assistant at Sakarya University in Turkey, told Arab News that it was common knowledge the US had a small number of military outposts and airstrips in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria.