Small Wars Journal

Kurds May Be Wiped Out Before Turkey Sanctions Happen, Senators Worry

Fri, 10/11/2019 - 12:13am

Kurds May Be Wiped Out Before Turkey Sanctions Happen, Senators Worry by Joe Gould – Defense News

Senators critical of President Donald Trump’s sudden military withdrawal from Syria are prepping a legislative response to the Turkish offensive there, but some colleagues worry America’s Kurdish partners may be dead by the time sanctions are imposed.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have proposed Congress’ most concrete legislative response to date to the unfolding crisis. Their bill includes sanctions on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a tougher stance against Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

Graham, a Trump ally who has publicly broken with the administration over the president’s decision to yank U.S. troops from northern Syria, implored Trump on Thursday to sanction Turkey, reestablish safe zones to protect America’s Kurdish allies and “prevent the reemergence of ISIS before it’s too late,” using an acronym for the Islamic State group…

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