Turkey says Syria offensive does not depend on US troop withdrawal
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned against attempts to delay Turkish plans to fight a Kurdish militia in Syria when the United States pulls its forces out.
ISTANBUL — Turkey could still enter Syria to quash Kurdish militants even if the United States delays its withdrawal from the area, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, accusing US officials of coming up with “excuses” to stay in the war-torn country’s northeast and stymie President Donald Trump’s plans to pull US troops out.
A rare show of unity between the United States and Turkey on Syria curdled this week over the fate of the People’s Protection Unions (YPG), the Kurdish militia that has fought the Islamic State alongside the United States but that Turkey views as a terrorist organization for its ties to a militant group that has waged a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton have pledged that the US departure from Syria would not leave the Kurds vulnerable to attack by Turkey after Trump faced a backlash at home over his surprise decision last month to leave Syria.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delayed an offensive against the YPG after a Dec. 14 phone call with Trump when the US president told him he would withdraw some 2,200 US special forces and invited Turkey to take over the fight against the Islamic State.
