Two days of talks between the US and Turkey have ended without an
agreement, leading Defense Secretary Mark Esper to promise that the US would prevent any Turkish invasion of northwestern Syria.
Turkey has long had a problem with the Kurds in northwestern Syria, and
has been threatening an invasion for the past 18 months. The US has
tried to prevent this by keeping troops in the area, but it seems that’s
not going to work forever.
Indeed, while Esper says he expects an arrangement can be made to
prevent Turkey’s invasion now, it’s not at all clear what that is, and
Turkey’s President Erdogan said the operation would go ahead “very
soon.”
Analysts expressed doubt about the US willingness to confront Turkey militarily over the invasion, and while the US insists that they are determined to stop the invasion, their options are limited.
US SecDef Vows to Prevent Turkish Invasion of Northwest Syria
Erdogan says invasion will go ahead
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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