The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Turkey says it won't bow to U.S. threats about Syria
With Americans’ exit, Turkish invasion appears imminent.
Turkey said Tuesday it will go ahead with a military operation in northeastern Syria and won’t bow to threats over its Syria plans, an apparent reply to President Donald Trump’s warning to limit the scope of its expected assault.
The situation
Trump said earlier this week the United States would step aside for an expected Turkish attack on Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have fought alongside Americans for years. But he then threatened to “totally destroy and obliterate” Turkey’s economy if they went too far.
The president later cast his decision to pull back U.S. troops from parts of northeast Syria as fulfilling a campaign promise to withdraw from “endless war” in the Middle East. Republican critics and others said Trump was sacrificing a U.S. ally, the Syrian Kurds, which Turkey considers terrorists.
What’s happening
Turkey has been building up reinforcements on its side of the border in preparation for an assault. At least two convoys of buses carrying Turkish commandos headed to the border Tuesday, according to reports. Later, three convoys made up of dozens of military vehicles, including trucks carrying armored personnel carriers and tanks, were seen driving toward the border town of Akcakale.
Turkey has said it wants to impose a zone of control potentially 19 miles deep that would stretch the length of the border. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have vowed to fight back.
What’s at stake
The Kurds, who are bracing for an imminent Turkish attack, stand to lose the autonomy they gained from Damascus during Syria’s civil war, now in its ninth year, and could see Turkey seize much of the territory where the Kurdish population is concentrated.
President Bashar Assad’s government abandoned the predominantly Kurdish area in northern Syria at the height of Syria’s civil war to focus on more key areas where the military was being challenged by the rebels. The U.S. then partnered with the Kurdish fighters to fight the Islamic State group, at the cost of thousands of fighters’ lives.
The danger now could prompt the Kurds to eventually negotiate with Assad’s government for some form of protection.
What’s next
President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Turkey a “big trading partner” as the White House said its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, plans to visit the U.S. later this year. Trump said in a tweet that Erdogan will visit Washington on Nov. 13.