Turkey poised for Syria safe zone operation as Trump defends troop pullout
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Ankara says a military operation in northeastern Syria will secure the border region from terrorists, and establish a peace corridor to resettle potentially millions of displaced Syrians.
Turkey is ready for a possible military operation east of the Euphrates River in Syria to establish a peace corridor and safe zone, the defence ministry said on Tuesday as President Donald Trump defended his decision to pull US troops from northeastern Syria.
“The establishment of a safe zone/peace corridor is essential for Syrians to have a safe life by contributing to the stability and peace of our region,” the ministry tweeted in Turkish.
“Turkish security forces will never tolerate the creation of a terror corridor at our borders. All preparations for the operation have been completed,” it added.
Trump also defended his decision to pull US troops in Syria ahead of a "long-planned" Turkish operation, even as Republican critics and others opposed his idea.
Trump has been facing mounting pressure in Washington after the White House late on Sunday ruled out any US involvement in the operation.
In a rare show of bipartisanship, top lawmakers in the US House of Representatives and Senate condemned Trump's decision.
In the face of significant pushback, the president said: "if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey."
US troop movement
Trump said he understood the criticism from fellow GOP leaders but disagreed. He said he could also name supporters, but he didn't.
In his remarks, the US president said there were just 50 troops in the area where Ankara was planning to carry out the operation and did not want them to get hurt.
Following the White House announcement, among the first to move were about 30 US troops from two outposts situated in the immediate area of the planned Turkish operation.
It's unclear whether others among the roughly 1,000 US forces in northeastern Syria would be moved, but officials said there was no plan for any to leave Syria entirely.
Turkish operations in Syria
For Ankara, this is not the first operation of its kind.
Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to resettle in western Syria.
The US allied with the PYD/YPG-dominated SDF militia in a battle against Daesh terror group in Syria.
The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organisation. In its 30-year terror campaign against the Turkish state more than 40,000 people, including children, have been killed.
Turkey, the US and the EU recognise the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
"I think there is a lot of pressure on Turkey. They have been fighting with the PKK for many years," said Trump.
The YPG question
US involvement in Syria has been fraught with peril since it started in 2014 with the insertion of small numbers of special operations forces to recruit, train, arm and advise local fighters to combat Daesh.
In the months to come after, Washington partnered with the YPG-led SDF in its fight against Daesh.
The partnership was one of the issues that strained ties between the two NATO member states, with Ankara arguing that supporting a terror group to fight another terror group makes no sense. Trump entered the White House in 2017 intent on getting out of Syria.
The US president, in late afternoon remarks to reporters, said he is trying to fulfil a campaign pledge to return US troops home.
"But I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane ... they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy," he added.
Trump defended his latest decision, acknowledging in tweets that "the Kurds fought with us" but adding that they "were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so."
"I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home," he wrote.
In his later remarks, Trump asserted that American troops in Syria are not performing useful work. They are, he said, "not fighting." They are "just there," he said.
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Turkey is ready for a possible military operation east of the Euphrates River in Syria to establish a peace corridor and safe zone, the defence ministry said on Tuesday as President Donald Trump defended his decision to pull US troops from northeastern Syria.
“The establishment of a safe zone/peace corridor is essential for Syrians to have a safe life by contributing to the stability and peace of our region,” the ministry tweeted in Turkish.
“Turkish security forces will never tolerate the creation of a terror corridor at our borders. All preparations for the operation have been completed,” it added.
Trump also defended his decision to pull US troops in Syria ahead of a "long-planned" Turkish operation, even as Republican critics and others opposed his idea.
Trump has been facing mounting pressure in Washington after the White House late on Sunday ruled out any US involvement in the operation.
In a rare show of bipartisanship, top lawmakers in the US House of Representatives and Senate condemned Trump's decision.
In the face of significant pushback, the president said: "if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey."
US troop movement
Trump said he understood the criticism from fellow GOP leaders but disagreed. He said he could also name supporters, but he didn't.
In his remarks, the US president said there were just 50 troops in the area where Ankara was planning to carry out the operation and did not want them to get hurt.
Following the White House announcement, among the first to move were about 30 US troops from two outposts situated in the immediate area of the planned Turkish operation.
It's unclear whether others among the roughly 1,000 US forces in northeastern Syria would be moved, but officials said there was no plan for any to leave Syria entirely.
Turkish operations in Syria
For Ankara, this is not the first operation of its kind.
Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to resettle in western Syria.
The US allied with the PYD/YPG-dominated SDF militia in a battle against Daesh terror group in Syria.
The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organisation. In its 30-year terror campaign against the Turkish state more than 40,000 people, including children, have been killed.
Turkey, the US and the EU recognise the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
"I think there is a lot of pressure on Turkey. They have been fighting with the PKK for many years," said Trump.
The YPG question
US involvement in Syria has been fraught with peril since it started in 2014 with the insertion of small numbers of special operations forces to recruit, train, arm and advise local fighters to combat Daesh.
In the months to come after, Washington partnered with the YPG-led SDF in its fight against Daesh.
The partnership was one of the issues that strained ties between the two NATO member states, with Ankara arguing that supporting a terror group to fight another terror group makes no sense. Trump entered the White House in 2017 intent on getting out of Syria.
The US president, in late afternoon remarks to reporters, said he is trying to fulfil a campaign pledge to return US troops home.
"But I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane ... they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy," he added.
Trump defended his latest decision, acknowledging in tweets that "the Kurds fought with us" but adding that they "were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so."
"I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home," he wrote.
In his later remarks, Trump asserted that American troops in Syria are not performing useful work. They are, he said, "not fighting." They are "just there," he said.
Turkey is ready for a possible military operation east of the Euphrates River in Syria to establish a peace corridor and safe zone, the defence ministry said on Tuesday as President Donald Trump defended his decision to pull US troops from northeastern Syria.
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