Small Wars Journal

Trump Sharply Warns Turkey Against Military Strikes in Syria

Wed, 01/24/2018 - 9:19pm

Trump Sharply Warns Turkey Against Military Strikes in Syria by Gardiner Harris – New York Times

Simmering tensions between Turkey and the United States spilled into the open on Wednesday as President Trump warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the growing risk of conflict between the two nations. The Turkish president, for his part, demanded that the United States end its support for Kurdish militias.

The two men, both populists and unapologetic nationalists, spoke by telephone as Turkish forces attacked Kurdish militias in Syria. American officials said they were increasingly uneasy that the campaign against the Islamic State would be seriously undermined by the newest battlefront in a country that has been ravaged by war for nearly seven years.

Mr. Trump “urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces,” the White House said in a description of the call. “He reiterated that both nations must focus all parties on the shared goal of achieving the lasting defeat of ISIS,” or the Islamic State.

His tough tone with Mr. Erdogan was an abrupt reversal from a White House briefing just a day earlier, where senior administration officials suggested that the United States would side with Turkey, a NATO ally, in disputes with Kurdish forces that have fought the Islamic State with direct support from Washington.

Turkey has fought for decades against Kurdish insurgent groups that Ankara considers terrorist threats. Kurds in the region — most notably in Turkey, Iraq and Syria — dream of creating an independent state even as they seek greater political and cultural rights…

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