Having announced his intention to invade Kurdish territory in northeastern Syria last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the invasion may now start at any moment. Over the past several days, Turkey has been adding troops to the border area.
The invasion is oft-threatened, based on Erdogan’s hostility toward the Kurdish YPG. Previously he demanded no Kurds be allowed west of the Euphrates River, and having accomplished the bulk of that, he is now focusing on east of the Euphrates River.
The Pentagon had warned last week that they considered any invasion “unacceptable,” but Erdogan revealed on Monday that he’d spoken to President Trump, and that Trump has expressed support fo the military operation.
While the White House wouldn’t confirm an endorsement of the invasion against US-backed Kurds, they did confirm that Trump had spoken with Erdogan about Syria during a recent telephone conversation. US Special Envoy James Jeffrey did, however, say he believed the invasion was “a bad idea,” and suggested everyone from the president on down had told Turkey that.
Erdogan: Trump Expressed Support for Turkish Attack on Syrian Kurds
Turkish Invasion of Syria May Start at Any Moment
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.
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