Syrian Turkmens appreciate Turkey’s help, expect more aid

Turkmens seeking refuge in Turkey as they flee violence in Syria.

With a population of over 3 million in war-torn Syria, the Turkmen community, which is spread all around the country unlike the Kurdish and Nusayri communities, expresses its gratitude for continued support from Ankara and expects more "to defend themselves" against ISIS and the Syrian regime. Turkey's leadership has consistently said it will not abandon Syria's Turkmens, who have suffered when their lands were invaded in 1918 and under the cruel leadership of President Bashar Assad's regime. The community also lost many lives when the country fell into civil war, which has entered its fifth year. While the U.S., through the CIA and other channels, France and many other countries openly extended weapons assistance to the Syrian opposition, Turkey's opposition made various speculations of Ankara's active support of Syria's Turkmen population.

In an interview with Daily Sabah, Syria's Turkmen Assembly spokesman Tarık Sulo Cevizci stated that the Turkmen community is deeply frustrated with how the global community is turning a blind eye to the Turkmens in Syria, who solely depend on assistance from Turkey and on their own limited assets within the country.

Since the civil war erupted in 2012, Turkmens have continuously received different kinds of support from Turkey, including humanitarian, diplomatic and logistical assistance, Cevizci said, adding that greater military and financial aid is needed to make a change in the field against ISIS and regime threats. "With help from Turkey, we were able to set up schools and foundations, get military equipment and survive. We have not received any sort of assistance from any other countries," he added.

The Turkmen community representatives were not invited to the talks in Geneva last week. However, with the help of diplomatic efforts by Ankara, Cevizci was able to represent the troubled Turkmens.

Along with all 100 members of his own family who have sought refuge in Turkey, over 300,000 of some half a million Turkmens who left the country have also fled to Turkey, Cevizci said, adding that fierce clashes are taking place in the regions where Turkmen communities have significant populations. "Aleppo is under ISIS control while Bayır-Bucak [Latakia province] is controlled by the regime," he said, remarking that regions controlled by the Kurdish PYD may also become problematic in the future if they see Turkmens as a threat against their "dreams." Furthermore, around 90 percent of the Turkmen community in Aleppo have either crossed the border and entered Turkey or moved into villages to save themselves from the ISIS threat and the rest of the 10 percent are those who are not able to travel out of the city, Cevizci says.

Turkmens have six military brigades in total. However, ISIS defeated the Turkmens in Choban Bey after one of its suicide bombers detonated himself when all the top generals convened after a victory against ISIS in February 2014. "Two-hundred ISIS militants were killed and 25 of their top members were apprehended. We sat with them and came to a deal that they would be freed if they leave our Choban Bey and they agreed.

However, after a suicide attack at the meeting, top Turkmen fighters were killed and the region came under ISIS control, which soon after took control of Mosul and later Kobani," Cevizci said.

He also questioned the "sensitivity" of the global powers, saying the reaction shown against ISIS in Kobani should have been shown toward Turkmens, who were the "first victims" of ISIS in Syria, claiming that the terrorist organization would not have grown so much if action had been taken against the group.

Commenting on the joint train-and-equip program by the U.S. and Turkey for moderate Syrian opposition groups, Cevizci said no Turkmens were picked so far in the program, adding that Turkmens were not allowed into the military nor the police force under Assad's regime. Thus, none of the armed Turkmens have a military background and they also need to be trained and well-equipped.

Turkey and the U.S. inked a deal on Feb. 19 to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition forces with the aim of achieving a political transformation in war-torn Syria on the basis of the Geneva Communique. In line with the agreement, Syrian opposition forces will be trained in the central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale. Accordingly, a total of 2,000 moderate fighters in groups of 300 are expected to be trained by the end of this year.

About 2,200 individuals have been identified to be vetted for the train-and-equip program to help Syrian opposition fighters, the U.S. said in March. "We have begun the pre-screening process of compiling biographical data on more than 400 of these potential recruits," Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking on his way back from a one-day tour to Germany and Belgium earlier this month, said Ankara is determined in its efforts to protect Turkmens living in Bayır-Bucak, adding that no one should expect Turkey to stand on the sidelines at a time when bombs are raining down on Turkmens. Speaking to journalists accompanying him, the president dismissed claims insinuating that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) is sending weapons to al Qaida.

"Such accusations against our intelligence agency are unacceptable. Those who make such claims have the obligation to prove them. At a time when Turkmens in Bayır-Bucak are under attack, it is unthinkable for Turkey to do nothing," he said.