Now we can say in very clear terms that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) units have taken over the Syrian city of al-Bab after armored infantry units gained control of the city center.
This is a massive blow to Daesh, which boasted that al-Bab would be a grave for Turkey and the FSA.
The capture of al-Bab with only 3,000 Turkish armored infantry soldiers and the FSA forces and a meager budget shows the capabilities of the TSK and is a clear message to Turkey's foes in the region. Do not mess with Turkey. Al-Bab is a stark reminder of what you will get in the future!
Those who were skeptical in Washington that Turkey could pull off this operation with success in view of its military capabilities on the ground should now realize that they have been deceived by the pro-PKK lobby.
Now the TSK and FSA forces will conduct a sweeping operation to get rid of the Daesh remnants in the city, dismantle the booby trapped bombs and mines and then concentrate on introducing proper sanitation, electricity and water for the predominantly Arab population of the city. Then Turkey will make an effort to rebuild the devastated city and rehouse those who have lost their homes in the Syrian civil war.Turkey is achieving great success in the Syrian city of Jarablus just across the Turkish border, which was liberated from Daesh more than five months ago. Turkey has restored all municipal services and has created a safe environment for the people to live in. Turkey has allowed the people of Jarablus to run the city themselves and has not intervened in its administration.
This is in stark contrast with what the American-backed Syrian Kurds have done after taking the city of Manbij from Daesh. They have systematically forced the Arabs and some Turkmens to leave the city and are replacing them with Kurdish families. They have done nothing for the well-being of the local people and they have started to administer the region according to their Marxist ideology.
Turkey has no intention of staying in the region once the areas taken from Daesh are secured and become a safe haven for the suffering masses of Syria. Yet the Kurds seem to entertain the view that they should not only live in the areas that they traditionally occupied in northeastern Syria but they want to expand into the Arab and Turkmen areas. They want to create a Kurdish corridor just across the Turkish border.
Turkey has stopped this adventure by creating a safe area that is 45-kilometers-deep into Syria and 90-kilometers-wide. The Kurds of Syria should learn to live with what they got with American help. Instead of concentrating on the fight against Daesh they used the arms provided to them by the Americans to expand their territory into Arab land and thus creating new sources of conflict in the region.
The U.S. will understand the terrible mistake it has committed in Syria but it seems the damage has already been done. Now the U.S. should not repeat this colossal mistake again for Raqqa. Raqqa is an Arab city and if the U.S. tries to wrestle this city from Raqqa with Kurdish forces the resentment they will create among the locals will be serious. Until now the Kurds have tried to change the demography of the places they have entered and have created new and more serious problems. Can the U.S. afford this in Syria?
