Even before his inauguration on January 20, Donald Trump continues to invest heavily in burning international political issues. The elected president of the United States therefore did not fail to make his opinion known on the change of regime in Damascus.
Donald Trump thus estimated on Monday that Turkey had carried out “an unfriendly takeover” of Syria, after rebel groups – some of which supported by Ankara – overthrew Bashar al-Assad.
Erdogan is “very tenacious”
“Turkey is very intelligent. He’s an intelligent guy, and he’s very tenacious,” declared the future tenant of the White House during a press conference, presumably in allusion to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Turkey made an unfriendly takeover without many lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher,” he added.
Since 2016, Turkey has exerted considerable influence over northwest Syria, maintaining relations with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and considered terrorist by many Western countries. . The Turkish government said it was “ready” on Sunday to provide military aid if the new Syrian government led by Islamist rebels requested it. “We think it is necessary to give them a chance,” Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Güler said.
Differences between Ankara and Washington
Turkey's priority in Syria is to fight Kurdish separatist fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), an objective supported by the new Syrian government, he said . By extension, Ankara considers the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) to be a terrorist group, which places it in direct opposition to the American administration of Joe Biden. Washington considers this group “crucial” in preventing a resurgence of jihadists from the Islamic State group in Syria.
Our articles on the situation in Syria
The FDS, supported by the United States, led the fight against IS in its last Syrian strongholds before its defeat in 2019. They are dominated by the YPG, considered by Ankara to be an offshoot of the banned PKK. “We made this known to our American friends. We are waiting for them to reassess their positions,” said Yasar Güler.
