The US forces will pull-out from Syria paving a way for Turkey to take action in the region. The US withdrawal will leave Kurdish-led forces in Syria that have long allied with Washington exposed to a systematic invasion by the Turkish rmy which labels the Kurds as terrorists.
Turkey has repeatedly threatened to carry out an incursion against US-backed Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria who have links to Kurdish guerrillas operating next door in Turkey. The United States began pulling troops back from the northeast Syrian border on Monday, effectively giving Turkey a green light to move into the area.
Earlier on Monday, Trump said the United States should leave others from European allies to Iranian foes, “to figure the situation out” in the region.
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He wrote on Twitter that “it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out.”
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It is a major policy shift that was criticised as a “stab in the back” by Kurdish-led forces who have been Washington’s most capable partners in fighting Islamic State in Syria.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, called on Trump to “reverse this dangerous decision” to withdraw, saying in a statement that it threatened regional security and sent a message to Iran and Russia, as well as US allies, that the United States is no longer a trusted partner.
McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, said in a statement: “A precipitous withdrawal of US forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime. And it would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup.”
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Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator who is generally a vocal Trump supporter, on the Fox News Channel criticised the Syria pullout decision as “impulsive.”
France warned that the US decision to withdraw from northeastern Syria could open the door to a revival of Islamic State, which has suffered significant battlefield losses to a US-led coalition in the area.
“We are going to be extremely careful that this announced disengagement from the United States and a possible offensive by Turkey does not create a dangerous manoeuvre that diverts from the goal we all pursue – the fight against Islamic State – and which is dangerous for the local population,” France’s armed forces minister, Florence Parly, told reporters.
The United States expects Turkey to take responsibility for captive Islamic State fighters in northeastern Syria if Ankara’s planned incursion seizes areas where the detained militants are held, a senior State Department official said.
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The captives are held in SDF facilities south of a safe zone initially proposed by Turkey. Aside from Trump’s threat, the State Department official and the Pentagon both said the United States did not endorse Turkey’s planned offensive.
“We made it clear (to the Turks) that we do not support this operation,” the official told reporters. “We think this operation is a very bad idea.”
A U.S. official said Turkey had been removed from a military mechanism used to coordinate air operations over northern Syria and that Turkey would no longer have access to US intelligence and surveillance feeds in the region. U.S. relations with Turkey under Trump have been wobbly.
