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[rooster59]

Turkey says it will take over fight against IS after U.S. pull-out

By Ece Toksabay and Dahlia Nehme

 

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Konya, Turkey, December 17, 2018. Cem Oksuz/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

 

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey will take over the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria as the United States withdraws its troops, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, in the latest upheaval wrought by Washington's abrupt policy shift.

 

The surprise announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump this week that he would withdraw roughly 2,000 troops has felled a pillar of American policy in the Middle East. Critics say Trump's decision will make it harder to find a diplomatic solution to Syria's seven-year-old conflict.

 

For Turkey, the step removes a source of friction with the United States. Erdogan has long castigated his NATO ally over its support for Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters against Islamic State. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group and an offshoot of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), fighting for Kurdish autonomy across the border on Turkish soil.

 

In a speech in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey would mobilise to fight remaining Islamic State forces in Syria and temporarily delay plans to attack Kurdish fighters in the northeast of Syria - shifts both precipitated by the American decision to withdraw.

 

The news was less welcome for other U.S. allies. Both France and Germany warned that the U.S. change of course risked damaging the campaign against Islamic State, the jihadists who seized big swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014-15 but have now been beaten back to a sliver of Syrian territory.

 

Likewise, the U.S.-backed militia spearheaded by the YPG said a Turkish attack would force it to divert fighters from the battle against Islamic State to protect its territory.

 

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said American troops may continue to operate against Islamic State in Syria. The Pentagon is considering using Special Operation teams based in Iraq to target militants in Syria, the official said.

 

The official emphasized that using special operators on the ground was one of many options being considered, was still in the planning stages and that no final decision had been made.

 

Islamic State launched an attack on Friday in Syria's southeast against the U.S.-backed SDF militia, employing car bombs and dozens of militants.

 

"We will be working on our operational plans to eliminate ISIS (Islamic State) elements, which are said to remain intact in Syria, in line with our conversation with President Trump," Erdogan said.

 

The Turkish president had announced plans last week to start an operation east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to oust the YPG from the area that it largely controls. This week, he said the campaign could come at any moment. But on Friday, he cited the talk with Trump as a reason to wait.

 

"Our phone call with President Trump, along with contacts between our diplomats and security officials and statements by the United States, have led us to wait a little longer," he said.

 

"We have postponed our military operation against the east of the Euphrates river until we see on the ground the result of America's decision to withdraw from Syria."

 

Erdogan said, however, that this was not an "open-ended waiting period" and that, due to past "negative experiences", Ankara welcomed the United States' statements with an equal amount of pleasure and caution.

 

Turkey has repeatedly voiced frustration over what it says is the slow implementation of a deal with Washington to pull YPG fighters out of Manbij, a town in mainly Arab territory west of the Euphrates in northern Syria.

 

The United States will probably end its air campaign against IS in Syria when it pulls out troops, U.S. officials have said.

Erdogan's foreign minister said the withdrawal plan would be discussed by the two countries in Washington in January.

 

'TIME FOR OTHERS TO FIGHT'

 

Trump maintained that IS had been wiped out, a view not shared by key allies, that Washington had been doing the work of other countries and it was "time for others to finally fight".

 

His defence secretary, Jim Mattis, opposed the decision and abruptly announced on Thursday he was resigning after meeting with the president.

 

In a candid letter to Trump, the retired Marine general emphasised the importance of "showing respect" to allies that have voiced surprise and concern about the president's decision.

 

Russia said on Friday it did not understand what the United States' next steps in Syria would be, adding that chaotic and unpredictable decision-making in Washington was creating discomfort in international affairs.

 

Several of Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress, joined by opposition Democrats, urged the president to reverse course, saying the withdrawal would strengthen the hand of Russia and Iran in Syria and enable a resurgence of Islamic State.

 

Trump has given no sign of changing his mind. He promised to remove forces from Syria during his 2016 election campaign.

 

The roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, many of them special forces, were ostensibly helping to combat Islamic State but were also seen as a possible bulwark against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has retaken much of the country from his foes in the multi-sided civil war, with military help from Iran and Russia.

 

IS declared a caliphate in 2014 after seizing parts of Syria and Iraq. The ultra-hardline Sunni militants established their de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, using it as a base to plot attacks in Europe.

 

A senior U.S. official last week said Islamic State was down to the last 1 percent of the territory it once held. The group has no remaining territory in Iraq, though militants have resumed attacks since their defeat there last year.

 

Islamic State launched an attack on Friday on positions held by the SDF in Syria's southeast and the U.S.-led coalition mounted air strikes in the area, an SDF official said.

 

Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria may not be able to continue to hold Islamic State prisoners if the situation in the region gets out of control after a U.S. pullout, top Syrian Kurdish official Ilham Ahmed said on Friday.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-22

[bristolboy]

Turkey's performace vis a vis Islalmist extremists is decidedly mixed. During the invasion of Afrin they used them as shock troops and then encouraged them to settle there and displace the Kurds. Lots of other incidents where Turkey tacitly supported Islamist extremists in Syria. On the other hand, given that it was during a conversation with Erdogan that Trump suddenly decided to pull out of Syria, it's a fair bet the Erdogan offered to take up the slack in exchange for US withdrawal and with it protection for the Kurds. Maybe Erdogan will actually move decisively against the Islamist  extremists. For him, it would be well worth it if it gave him the freedom to ultimately move against the Kurds.

That said, once the US pulls out, I don't think there's much chance the Erdogan will honor the agreement. It's not like Trump is going to send back troops in that event.

Edited December 22, 2018 by bristolboy

[rudi49jr]

2 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Turkey's performace vis a vis Islalmist extremists is decidedly mixed. During the invasion of Afrin they used them as shock troops and then encouraged them to settle there and displace the Kurds. Lots of other incidents where Turkey tacitly supported Islamist extremists in Syria. On the other hand, given that it was during a conversation with Erdogan that Trump suddenly decided to pull out of Syria, it's a fair bet the Erdogan offered to take up the slack in exchange for US withdrawal and with it protection for the Kurds. Maybe Erdogan will actually move decisively against the Islamist  extremists. For him, it would be well worth it if it gave him the freedom to ultimately move against the Kurds.

That said, once the US pulls out, I don't think there's much chance the Erdogan will honor the agreement. It's not like Trump is going to send back troops in that event.

Word has it that Erdogan promised to lay off MBK in exchange for Trump pulling all Americans troops out of Syria, so Turkey can go ahead and invade northern Syria and 'solve' their Kurdish problem. 

[bristolboy]

55 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

Word has it that Erdogan promised to lay off MBK in exchange for Trump pulling all Americans troops out of Syria, so Turkey can go ahead and invade northern Syria and 'solve' their Kurdish problem. 

I'm assuming that MBK was a slip of the keyboard and you meant MBS.

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Turkey will take over the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria as the United States withdraws its troops

That will also include Turkish takeover of Kurdish and Arab components of the Syrian Democratic Forces allied with the US over their dead bodies.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/12/21/what-the-u-s-withdrawal-from-syria-means-for-isis-iran-and-kurdish-allies/

Thank you Trump for helping Turkey be great again.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Srikcir
link

[rudi49jr]

14 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

I'm assuming that MBK was a slip of the keyboard and you meant MBS.

You are right, MBS, not MBK. MBS being Mohammad bin Salman, MBK being the shopping center in Bangkok ????

[bristolboy]

13 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

You are right, MBS, not MBK. MBS being Mohammad bin Salman, MBK being the shopping center in Bangkok ????

If Erdogan messes with MBK then he'll face the wrath of Thailand.

[from the home of CC]

When it was proclaimed ISIS was defeated I got an uncomfortable feeling that a big ugly event was imminent.

[Thingamabob]

All part of the plan to put Turkey up front against the Shia. Media clueless on this.

[bristolboy]

33 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

All part of the plan to put Turkey up front against the Shia. Media clueless on this.

I think everybody but you is pretty much clueless on this.

[Burma Bill]

Quote: "Turkey will take over the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria"

 

and fight to eliminate the Kurds!

 

[Tug]

He might go after isis after he kills all of the Kurds you know our allies thanks Donald tired of winning yet?

[Scott]

Post and reply violating Fair Use Policy have been removed.  

[LomSak27]

18 hours ago, bristolboy said:

t's a fair bet the Erdogan offered to take up the slack in exchange for US withdrawal and with it protection for the Kurds. Maybe Erdogan will actually move decisively against the Islamist  extremists. For him, it would be well worth it if it gave him the freedom to ultimately move against the Kurds.

 

Its amazing how Trump is so clueless sap; you get yourself a populist semi dictator whether its Putin or Erdogan and he falls all over himself buttock kissing. They know they can talk this senile old bat into most anything. Perhaps he admires them and hopes someday to be one, if only ....  Secretary of Defense Mattis and the acting US envoy Brett McGurk have quit, at least they have more integrity than the swamp dwellers in Tramps mud-hole.

 

 

[Cryingdick]

14 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

 

Its amazing how Trump is so clueless sap; you get yourself a populist semi dictator whether its Putin or Erdogan and he falls all over himself buttock kissing. They know they can talk this senile old bat into most anything. Perhaps he admires them and hopes someday to be one, if only ....  Secretary of Defense Mattis and the acting US envoy Brett McGurk have quit, at least they have more integrity than the swamp dwellers in Tramps mud-hole.

 

 

In all fairness McGurk was leaving February 1st anyway.

[sammieuk1]

Nothing will go well with Erdog at the helm he is the terrorist ????

[Cryingdick]

This is classic Trump. I don't care if you agree with it or not. He is having a temper tantrum and the result of people not agreeing with him on the wall at home is to make a policy that floods Europe with asylum seekers.

 

Don't attack me for saying that. This is going to be gasoline on the fire in Europe. Hopefully they step in and circumvent it. As Mattis said Donald doesn't give a flying <deleted> about the allies in Europe. This is going to result in a million refugees all going to Europe.

 

In Trump's mind you are either for us or against us. Europe already has bigly problems now here comes another. Who knows maybe Germany will commit some of their own forces if we are all so worried about isis?

[sirineou]

20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Turkey will take over the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria as the United States withdraws its troops, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, in the latest upheaval wrought by Washington's abrupt policy shift.

20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

In a speech in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey would mobilise to fight remaining Islamic State forces in Syria and temporarily delay plans to attack Kurdish fighters in the northeast of Syria

the operative word here is "temporarily"  while the US is withdrawing it's forces.

By the way, I thought this whole thing started to remove Bashar because he was gassing his citizens , is  Bashar out? 

[metisdead]

A troll post containing an offensive reference to Trump has been removed. If you do not want your posts to be removed, spell people's names correctly.

[simple1]

27 minutes ago, sirineou said:

<SNIP>is Bashar out? 

No, he's friends again with Erdogan. BTW France has Special Forces in the SDF held area and has promised to support the SDF after the US withdrawal. However, along with US forces they have pulled out from some more exposed locations such as Manbij.

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-france/france-assures-kurdish-dominated-sdf-of-french-support-idUKKCN1OK1YC

[ballpoint]

2 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Secretary of Defense Mattis and the acting US envoy Brett McGurk have quit, at least they have more integrity than the swamp dwellers in Tramps mud-hole.

Or in Trump's mad-hole.

[farcanell]

3 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

This is classic Trump. I don't care if you agree with it or not. He is having a temper tantrum and the result of people not agreeing with him on the wall at home is to make a policy that floods Europe with asylum seekers.

 

Don't attack me for saying that. This is going to be gasoline on the fire in Europe. Hopefully they step in and circumvent it. As Mattis said Donald doesn't give a flying <deleted> about the allies in Europe. This is going to result in a million refugees all going to Europe.

 

In Trump's mind you are either for us or against us. Europe already has bigly problems now here comes another. Who knows maybe Germany will commit some of their own forces if we are all so worried about isis?

Yes yes....But..... you appear to agree that the president of the US of A should be permitted to govern via temper tantrum induced policy.

 

we all know that this is “classic trump”, as you call it.... but us “liberals” etc etc, as you are want to brand us ( “us” being those who might attack your posts... do attack your posts), are very much against international politics being hostage to trumps temper tantrums... that is the problem with boss Hogg.... it’s nothing to do with individual political persuasion, and everything to do with the potential negative impact of his ill advised decision making.

 

“Physician, heal thyself” is a proverb that’s 2500 years old, yet the lesson is lost on trump... maybe because he thinks himself a genius, above all others... lol... which is another problem

 

[Guest]

Overall why is it so hard to give a dedicated piece of land to the people who want their own country when that action would end wars?

 

Why can't the Kurdish people have their own land. Why can't the Palestine people have their own bit of land?

 

 

[bristolboy]

12 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Overall why is it so hard to give a dedicated piece of land to the people who want their own country when that action would end wars?

 

Why can't the Kurdish people have their own land. Why can't the Palestine people have their own bit of land?

 

 

Maybe Finland could offer these people some of its territory? That shouldn't be difficult.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Maybe Finland could offer these people some of its territory? That shouldn't be difficult.

We are quite ready to give Åland to their people, if they ever wish to be independent. So far they have not wanted so and we have not have wars, killing loads of people, over the matter.

 

 

[bristolboy]

21 minutes ago, oilinki said:

We are quite ready to give Åland to their people, if they ever wish to be independent. So far they have not wanted so and we have not have wars, killing loads of people, over the matter.

 

 

Very generous:

The Åland Islands or Åland (Swedish: Åland, IPA: [ˈoːland]; Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) is an archipelago province at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea belonging to Finland. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland. It is the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.49% of its land area and 0.50% of its population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Åland_Islands

In other words keep them isolated and away from ethnic finns. So it seems you do have a problem with immigrants.

[Sydebolle]

11 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Yeah, they shot down that Sukhoi Su-24 didn't they? They knew it was Assad and his KGB handlers.  

Well, Assad was - by even American interpretation of democracy - elected by the majority of the electorate and the whole soup started to boil over once everybody else put their nose into this repetition of a proxy war. 

[Morch]

12 hours ago, simple1 said:

No, he's friends again with Erdogan. BTW France has Special Forces in the SDF held area and has promised to support the SDF after the US withdrawal. However, along with US forces they have pulled out from some more exposed locations such as Manbij.

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-france/france-assures-kurdish-dominated-sdf-of-french-support-idUKKCN1OK1YC

 

I don't know that Assad is "friends" with Erdogan again. Might be taking things too far.  As for the French - doubt they can provide the same level of military support and diplomatic leverage. Earlier agreements and understandings outlined no YPG presence West of the Euphrates, and joint US/Turkish patrols in the area.

 

Guess the Rojava experiment is heading for some very rough times.

[Morch]

13 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

This is classic Trump. I don't care if you agree with it or not. He is having a temper tantrum and the result of people not agreeing with him on the wall at home is to make a policy that floods Europe with asylum seekers.

 

Don't attack me for saying that. This is going to be gasoline on the fire in Europe. Hopefully they step in and circumvent it. As Mattis said Donald doesn't give a flying <deleted> about the allies in Europe. This is going to result in a million refugees all going to Europe.

 

In Trump's mind you are either for us or against us. Europe already has bigly problems now here comes another. Who knows maybe Germany will commit some of their own forces if we are all so worried about isis?

 

"As Mattis said Donald doesn't give a flying <deleted> about the allies in Europe."

 

This was actually a major point made in Mattis's resignation letter, and consistent with previous views aired.

 

 

[simple1]

7 hours ago, Morch said:

 

I don't know that Assad is "friends" with Erdogan again. Might be taking things too far.  As for the French - doubt they can provide the same level of military support and diplomatic leverage. Earlier agreements and understandings outlined no YPG presence West of the Euphrates, and joint US/Turkish patrols in the area.

 

Guess the Rojava experiment is heading for some very rough times.

Was using the term 'friends' losely knowing alliances come and go in the region. Have to wait and see what if any further resources the French and other coalition members are prepared to fund in the SDF area of control, whilst trying to agree a political resolution.

 

As Assad has claimed he will eventually regain all areas of Syria lost in the war for sure the Rojava Experiment areas will come under more pressure. I assume the various parties would prefer a political resolution rather than more war e.g. some form of self governing autonomy, but with Syrian control of defense, foreign relations and so on although odds don't appear to be good for a peaceful outcome. 

 

In your opinion is Idlib going to be the next focus for a killing ground?

Edited December 23, 2018 by simple1