In a phone call on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Trump agreed
to coordinate in the announced US withdrawal form Syria. Officials say
the goal is to prevent “an authority vacuum” in eastern Syria.
This reflects the additional information learned about the decision to
withdraw from Syria, that it came following Erdogan’s last call to Trump
on the planned Turkish invasion of the region. In effect, the US
presence is going to be replaced with a Turkish one.
Which doesn’t sit well with Kurdish officials, who are continuing to call on the US to do something to
stop Turkey from invading. There is no reason to think that might be
likely to happen, and reports indicate that Turkey has forced the US to
choose between them, a NATO ally, and the Kurdish YPG, who many in the
US saw as an alliance of convenience.
The US pullout may delay the Turkish invasion somewhat, as Turkey seems
to be holding off while the US effects its withdrawal to prevent any
sort of fighting. In the meantime, however, Turkey continues to build up its own forces along the border, and Erdogan insists an invasion will come.
Erdogan, Trump to Coordinate on Syria Pullout
Turkey continues to build up military forces on Syrian border
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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