Syrian Kurds Warn Turkey’s Threats Are a ‘Declaration of War’

Trump talks with Erdogan, tries to prevent invasion

In between their attacks on Kurdish targets in northern Syria, Turkey’s policy rests heavily on threatening to attack Kurdish targets in northern Syria. According to Kurdish officials, they view this week’s threats as a “declaration of war” against them.

It’s fair for the Kurds to view it as such, as that’s certainly what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intended. Indeed, he’s constantly talking up future offensives against the Kurdish “terrorists,” and this one made clear that he intends to liquidate the entire autonomous Kurdish region.

The US has long tried to keep Turkey from invading Kurdish Rojava outright, and President Trump made a call to Erdogan on Friday. The White House says an agreement was reached to continue “coordinating” on Syria.

This doesn’t exactly rule out an invasion of Syria, however, as the US has repeatedly claimed to have reached deals with the Turks on the future of Kurdish territory. This has included repeated deals over the city of Manbij, and Turkey has again indicated this week they intend to send troops directly into Manbij.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.