Small Wars Journal

Syrian Kurds Say US Seeking Deal to Prevent a Turkish Attack After Withdrawal

Wed, 01/30/2019 - 2:46am

Syrian Kurds Say US Seeking Deal to Prevent a Turkish Attack After Withdrawal by Sarah El Deeb – AP

The United States is seeking to broker an agreement between Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkey to prevent them from going to war in northeastern Syria once American forces withdraw, a senior Kurdish official said.

 

Ilham Ahmed, the co-chair of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Council, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that it remains to be seen whether U.S. efforts would be successful.

 

Ahmed has been in Washington for the last few days to lobby for a negotiated U.S. withdrawal that would secure the presence of Kurdish-led forces in areas of northern Syria that they liberated, with U.S. military support, from Islamic State militants. The oil- and resource-rich areas constitute 30 percent of Syria.

 

Plans for the U.S. to pull out created a vacuum that all sides are seeking to fill…

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