Trump touts Turkey truce, even as it appears shaky
TURKEY AND KURDISH FIGHTERS DIFFER OVER WHAT AGREEMENT REQUIRES
US President Donald Trump is pushing back at criticism that his Syria withdrawal is damaging US credibility, betraying Kurdish allies and opening the door for a possible resurgence of Daesh. He touted a ceasefire agreement that seemed at risk as Turkey and Kurdish fighters differed over what it required and whether combat had halted.
“We’ve had tremendous success I think over the last couple of days,” Trump declared on Friday.
He added that “we’ve taken control of the oil in the Middle East” a claim that seemed disconnected from any known development there.
He made the assertion twice on Friday, but other US officials were unable to explain what he meant. Calling his Syria approach “a little bit unconventional,” Trump contended that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as the Syrian Kurdish fighters agreed that the US-brokered ceasefire was the right step and were complying with it.
‘Goodwill on both sides’
“There is good will on both sides & a really good chance for success,” he wrote on Twitter.
That optimism seemed at odds with Erdogan’s own words. He told reporters in Istanbul that Turkish forces ■ would resume their offensive in four days unless Kurdish-led fighters withdrew “without exception” from a so-called safe zone 30km deep in Syria running the entire 440km length of the border with Turkey.
There was no sign of any pullout by the Kurdish-led forces, who accused Turkey of violating the ceasefire with continued fighting at a key border town.
They also said the accord covers a much smaller section of the border.
And some fighters have vowed not to withdraw at all, Turkey will set up a dozen observation posts across northeast Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, insisting that a planned “safe zone” will extend much farther than US officials said was covered under a fragile ceasefire deal.
Less than 24 hours after he agreed the five-day truce to allow Kurdish forces time to pull back from Turkey’s crossborder assault, Erdogan underlined Ankara’s ambition to establish a presence along 520km of territory inside Syria.
Shelling could be heard near Ras Al Ain on Friday morning despite the deal, and a spokesman for the Kurdish-led forces said Turkey was hitting civilian targets in the town.
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dismissing the deal as a betrayal by the US, whose soldiers they have fought alongside against Daesh.
Even so, Trump insisted peace was at hand. “Anyway, big progress being made !!!! ” he exclaimed on Twitter. “There is a ceasefire or a pause or whatever you want to call it,” he said.
Erdogan fired off a fresh warning yesterday to “crush” Kurdish forces as both sides continued to trade accusations of violating the truce deal in northeastern Syria.