Erdogan Sets Sights on Syria, But is He Fighting Daesh or Democratic Kurds?

Regional sources said that the Turkish Armed Forces' top brass has allegedly ordered the Free Syrian Army's Turkmen units to prevent Kurdish People's Protection Units from entering Jarabulus, a town to the west of the Euphrates River near Syria's border with Turkey.

Right now, Turkish army units are being deployed to the country's border with Syria, along with demining equipment which was delivered to the area on Tuesday.

Additionally, special vehicles are currently awaiting permission to cross the border near a checkpoint in the town  Karkamis in southeastern Turkey.

Turkey had turned a blind eye to Daesh militants operating along its border with Syria for at least four years. However, Ankara eventually declared war against Daesh on its frontier after an ISIL suicide bomber killed thirty-two people in Suruc, a Turkish town located near the border.

Earlier, the US international affairs magazine The National Interest quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that apart from Daesh, Ankara is also allegedly threatened by the Kurdish nationalist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and its Syrian affiliate, the People’s Defense Units (YPG).

The nature of links between the YPG and the PKK is disputed, but they both are known to have adhered to the same ideology and have waged an armed struggle for the self-determination of Kurds.