Trump says Turkey carried out 'unfriendly takeover' of country

Donald Trump estimated on Monday that Turkey had carried out “an unfriendly takeover” of Syria, after rebel groups – some supported by Ankara – overthrew the government of Bashar al-Assad. “Turkey is very intelligent. He's a smart guy, and he's very tenacious.”declared the future American president during a press conference, probably in allusion to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before adding: “Turkey made an unfriendly takeover without many lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher,” he added.

Since 2016, Turkey has exercised considerable influence over northwest Syria, maintaining relations with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC) group, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and considered terrorist by many Western countries. . The Turkish government said “ready” Sunday to provide military aid if the new Syrian government led by Islamist rebels requests it. “We have to wait and see what the new administration will do. We think it is necessary to give them a chance.”declared Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Güler. 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 order to prevent a resurgence of jihadists from the Islamic State group in Syria. The SDF, 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 re-evaluate their positions”said Yasar Güler. Donald Trump will officially take office at the White House on January 20.