Erdogan Asks Trump to Halt US Support for Syrian Kurds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at an event in Istanbul on Friday (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at an event in Istanbul on Friday (Turkish Presidency)
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Erdogan Asks Trump to Halt US Support for Syrian Kurds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at an event in Istanbul on Friday (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at an event in Istanbul on Friday (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that he asked US President-elect Donald Trump to halt American support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Erdogan stated Friday that during a phone call with Trump immediately after his re-election, he stressed the need to end US support for the YPG, the largest faction within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), asserting that Türkiye would not compromise on securing its borders against terrorist threats.

In remarks to journalists on his return from Budapest, where he attended the fifth meeting of the European Political Community, Erdogan said: “We will continue discussions with Mr. Trump in this new period and will address regional developments, including the US withdrawal from Syria.”

The Turkish president emphasized his country’s commitment to establishing a 30-40 kilometer security zone along its southern border to neutralize terrorist threats from the PKK and the YPG, which Ankara views as the PKK’s Syrian arm.

“Our efforts to penetrate into Syria and Iraq to target terrorists and eradicate terrorism at its source will continue relentlessly,” Erdogan declared. “As we have stated verbally, we also demonstrate through our actions that we will not allow the formation of a terrorist corridor along our southern border. We will pursue terrorism beyond our borders.”

Ankara considers the YPG an extension of the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU. The Turkish government has consistently urged Washington to end its support for the YPG, which the US views as a crucial ally in the fight against ISIS.

Türkiye has launched multiple military operations targeting SDF-controlled areas where the YPG predominates and continues strikes against these forces through its troops stationed in northern and eastern Syria, as well as with support from factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.

The Turkish military presence in northern Syria remains a barrier to Ankara’s efforts to normalize relations with Damascus.

In his first term, Trump announced on December 19, 2018, that he would withdraw US forces from Syria, asserting that they had achieved their goal of defeating ISIS. The decision led to the resignation of then-Defense Secretary James Mattis, although Trump later reversed the decision and delayed the withdrawal plan.

Last year, the US Senate overwhelmingly rejected a resolution calling on President Joe Biden’s administration to withdraw American forces from northeastern Syria.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”