Turkish officials say they will cross into northeastern Syria “shortly” with ground troops, and has carried out more strikes against the Syria-Iraq border, gearing up that operation.
After President Trump’s threat to destroy the Turkish economy over the matter, the Pentagon has
also said they will severely limit Turkish access to northeastern
Syria, preventing Turkey from conducting air support missions during the
invasion.
Turkish officials are dismissing the US threats, with Vice President Oktay saying “Turkey is not a country that will act according to threats,” and will determine their own operations.
The US and Turkey have been sparring over the future of northeastern
Syria for years. The US has wanted to ensure that the Kurdish YPG
retains control of the area, while Turkey very much prefers that the
Kurds not retain any autonomous territory.
And while that’s a driving priority for Turkey with respect to Kurds in
multiple countries, the Turkish government’s spokesman presented the
impending invasion as a “counter-ISIS effort,” and is warning the Kurds
against “disrupting” that, despite the Kurdish YPG clearly being the
primary target in a region where the only ISIS presence is in a
YPG-controlled prison camp.
Turkey Strikes NE Syria, Won’t Bow to US Threats
US cuts Turkey's access to Syrian airspace
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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