Kailash Kumar
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2018
- Messages
- 4,643
- Reaction score
- -1
- Country
- Location
Turkey hits back at Trump's vow to defend Kurdish militia
14 January 2019
Istanbul: President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman says Turkey expects the United States to honour their strategic partnership after President Donald Trump warned it would devastate Turkey economically if they attack a Kurdish militia in Syria.
Relations between the two NATO allies have been strained over US backing for the Kurdish YPG, which Turkey views as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that is waging a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.
"Mr @realDonaldTrump It is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK, which is on the US terrorists list, and its Syria branch PYD/YPG," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter.
"Terrorists can't be your partners & allies. Turkey expects the US to honour our strategic partnership and doesn't want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda," he said.
Trump threatened Turkey on Sunday with harsh economic sanctions if it attacks Kurdish forces in Syria after US troops withdraw from the country in the coming months.
"Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds," Trump said on Twitter, suggesting that there would be a 20-mile safe zone around the group after US forces leave.
He added, "Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey."
Trump's tweets marked the first public threat toward Turkey, a NATO ally, over the Kurds and seemed to offer a blanket of protection for the group, a band of US-backed militias that the Turkish government sees as terrorists.
Trump's announced pullout from Syria without guaranteeing safety for the Kurds, who have helped US forces fight the Islamic State group, had received sharp criticism from politicians.
But his tweets threatened to upend Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's attempt to reach a deal with Turkey to protect them, something Pompeo had been optimistic about when talking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, earlier on Sunday.
After speaking with his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Pompeo had said he was "optimistic that we can achieve a good outcome," though details were being worked out.
Turkey, which has said it is planning an assault on Islamic State and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, contends that the Kurdish fighters in Syria are part of a front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.
In his tweets Sunday, Trump also mentioned striking the Islamic State from an "existing nearby base" if the group reappears after the US withdrawal, something analysts have feared if US forces hastily leave the country.
The Pentagon has suggested positioning Special Operations troops in nearby Iraq, where they could attack in Syria if needed. There is heavy fighting in Syria around the town of Hajin, where Islamic State militants still hold some territory. The areas they control have been reduced to a few villages, after the group once held a swath of land roughly the size of Britain.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/mid...o-defend-kurdish-militia-20190114-p50r93.html
14 January 2019
Istanbul: President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman says Turkey expects the United States to honour their strategic partnership after President Donald Trump warned it would devastate Turkey economically if they attack a Kurdish militia in Syria.
Relations between the two NATO allies have been strained over US backing for the Kurdish YPG, which Turkey views as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that is waging a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.
"Mr @realDonaldTrump It is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK, which is on the US terrorists list, and its Syria branch PYD/YPG," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter.
"Terrorists can't be your partners & allies. Turkey expects the US to honour our strategic partnership and doesn't want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda," he said.
Trump threatened Turkey on Sunday with harsh economic sanctions if it attacks Kurdish forces in Syria after US troops withdraw from the country in the coming months.
"Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds," Trump said on Twitter, suggesting that there would be a 20-mile safe zone around the group after US forces leave.
He added, "Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey."
Trump's tweets marked the first public threat toward Turkey, a NATO ally, over the Kurds and seemed to offer a blanket of protection for the group, a band of US-backed militias that the Turkish government sees as terrorists.
Trump's announced pullout from Syria without guaranteeing safety for the Kurds, who have helped US forces fight the Islamic State group, had received sharp criticism from politicians.
But his tweets threatened to upend Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's attempt to reach a deal with Turkey to protect them, something Pompeo had been optimistic about when talking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, earlier on Sunday.
After speaking with his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Pompeo had said he was "optimistic that we can achieve a good outcome," though details were being worked out.
Turkey, which has said it is planning an assault on Islamic State and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, contends that the Kurdish fighters in Syria are part of a front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.
In his tweets Sunday, Trump also mentioned striking the Islamic State from an "existing nearby base" if the group reappears after the US withdrawal, something analysts have feared if US forces hastily leave the country.
The Pentagon has suggested positioning Special Operations troops in nearby Iraq, where they could attack in Syria if needed. There is heavy fighting in Syria around the town of Hajin, where Islamic State militants still hold some territory. The areas they control have been reduced to a few villages, after the group once held a swath of land roughly the size of Britain.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/mid...o-defend-kurdish-militia-20190114-p50r93.html
