President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy the Turkish economy if the government goes “off-limits” after his decision to pull US forces out of north-eastern Syria.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Trump defended his move that could open the way for Turkey to launch an attack on Kurdish fighters across the border.
The withdrawal was heavily criticised even by Mr. Trump’s Republican allies.
Kurdish forces were key US allies in defeating the Islamic State in Syria.
Mr. Trump’s surprise move – described by the main Kurdish-led group as a “stab in the back” – goes against the advice of senior officials in the Pentagon and state department.
Critics say the withdrawal could facilitate an IS resurgence and leave Kurdish forces at risk of being attacked by Turkey, which regards them as terrorists. But Mr. Trump warned Turkey not to take advantage of his decision, saying he could “destroy and obliterate” its economy.
Last year, the US raised tariffs on some Turkish products and imposed sanctions on top officials as relations between the two Nato countries worsened over a number of issues.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his aim is to combat Kurdish fighters in the border area and set up a “safe zone” for up to two million of the more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey.
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In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said: “the Department of Defense made clear to Turkey – as did the president – that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in Northern Syria”.
Earlier, Mr. Trump said it was time “to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal” and that “Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out”.
‘Disaster in the making’
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of the president, was among those who criticised the decision. Calling the move a “disaster in the making”, Mr. Graham said he would introduce a Senate resolution opposing the decision and calling for it to be reversed.
“I hope President Trump will reassess and take sound military advice,” he wrote on Twitter. “We have sent the most dangerous signal possible – America is an unreliable ally.”
Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN, said the Kurds “were instrumental in our successful fight against” IS in Syria and that “leaving them to die [was] a big mistake”.
Turkey’s plans
On Sunday, Mr. Erdogan’s office said he and President Trump had spoken on the phone about Turkey’s plan to set up a “safe zone” in north-eastern Syria, and that the 20-mile (32km) zone was needed to combat “terrorists”.
Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG militia – the dominant force in the SDF alliance – an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades.
In his call with Mr. Trump, President Erdogan also expressed his “frustration over the US military and security bureaucracy’s failure” to implement an agreement reached in August about the zone, his office said.
The White House also said Turkey would take over responsibility for IS fighters captured by Kurdish forces. More than 12,000 suspected IS members are in Kurdish-controlled camps south of Turkey’s planned “safe zone”, and at least 4,000 of them are foreign nationals.
Source: BBC
