Turkish battle plan for Syria shaky despite Trump's promised pullout
Turkey's initial satisfaction over the United States' abrupt Syria withdrawal announcement is being tempered by doubts over Washington’s true intentions and awareness of the obstacles that still remain to a Turkish incursion.
Turkey’s initial satisfaction over President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria is being tempered by doubts about Washington’s next step. The situation in northern Syria is getting increasingly complicated for Ankara.
Little has happened since then regarding Ankara’s planned incursion into Syria to eliminate the People’s Protection Units (YPG). Some analysts believe that this operation is less likely to happen after Trump’s decision to leave Syria.
Ankara says the US-backed YPG and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are terror organizations linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it has been fighting since the mid-1980s.
Following Trump’s decision, Turkey announced that it would postpone its planned operation for the time being to allow a coordinated and orderly departure of US forces from Syria. Questions remain, however, as to when and how this departure will actually take place.
