HDP MP: “Turkey didn’t prevail in Afrin, they entered quicksand”

HDP Mersin MP Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat stated that Turkey has entered a deadend with their move into Afrin and added that there is no victory that has been achieved, and they won’t be able to stay there.

Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi - HDP) Mersin MP Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat spoke about the Turkish army entering Afrin along with groups allied with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the outcomes of the AKP-MHP alliance for the peoples of Turkey.

Firat stated that by entering Afrin, Turkey wants to be part of the equation in the Middle East and that there is a big play at hand. According to Firat, neither the US nor Russia was a party to Turkey taking on such a role, but have encouraged Turkey to enter the quicksand in Syria so the country would be stuck in a vise. Firat called Turkey entering Afrin “a great mistake” and said: “Afrin is a small area. The distance between Afrin and Turkey from the border is 30 km. The Turkish army, as the second largest army in NATO, entering Afrin city enter after almost 2 months cannot be called a victory. It is easy to take over a region, but harder to resolve the issues therein. The Afrin matter is like this. Turkey will be unable to remain in Afrin.”

“TURKEY IN A BIND”

Firat said Turkey has to make advances to be permanent in Afrin, but will be finding Russian and Syrian soldiers if they actually do, and continued: “Turkey will attempt to advance to the Manbij side as they can’t advance to the south. The government already makes comments to this end. Since the beginning, the US objected to Turkey advancing. The US has stated that they will be retaliating any military interventions by Turkey in areas under their control, and that those areas will be defended against Turkey. It is not possible for Turkey to take such a risk. Turkey has entered a bind with their move into Afrin.” Firat also stressed that any operations against Iraq won’t be successful for Turkey.