Turkey says it will not bow to Trump’s threat over its Syria plans

Turkey on Tuesday said it had completed preparations for a military operation in northeast Syria after the United States began pulling back troops, opening the way for a Turkish attack on Kurdish-led forces long allied to Washington.

In a day of foreign policy turmoil, US President Donald Trump on Monday pulled back 50 to 100 “special operators” from Syria’s northern frontier, where they have served as a buffer preventing a long-planned assault by the Turkish military against Kurdish forces in Syria.

Trump defended his move as fulfilling a campaign promise to withdraw from “endless war” in the Middle East.

His shock announcement drew heavy criticism from top Republicans that he was abandoning the Kurds, who were crucial in the years-long campaign to defeat Islamic State, and undermining American credibility.

Trump appeared to then back-pedal, warning Turkey he would “obliterate” the country’s economy if it went too far – without explaining what that meant.

“I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane … they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy,” he said.

Ankara brushed aside the threat, with Vice-President Fuat Oktay saying: “Turkey is not a country that will act according to threats.”

Oktay said Turkey was intent on combating Syrian Kurdish fighters across its border in Syria and on creating a zone that would allow Turkey to resettle Syrian refugees there.

“Where Turkey’s security is concerned, we determine our own path but we set our own limits,” Oktay said.

Iran, a key backer of the Syrian government, said on Tuesday it opposed any military action by Turkey.

In a call to Ankara, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif “urged respect for Syria’s territorial integrity”.

Turkey has always pushed hard against Washington’s support for Kurdish forces in Syria, fearing it would strengthen Kurdish separatists in its own territory.

Its defence ministry tweeted that preparations for an offensive in northern Syria have been “completed”.

Explained: why are Syria’s Kurds accusing the US of betrayal?

A senior US official denied Trump had given a “green light” to a Turkish invasion, which has also raised concerns over the fate of thousands of Islamic State prisoners held in Kurdish detention centres.

“It appears the Turks are intent on some sort of military operation,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “There will be no US armed forces involvement.”

Trump emphasised he wanted to end the US military presence in the region. “We want to bring our troops back home from these endless wars and we’re like a police force. We’re not fighting. We’re policing.”

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the Syria withdrawal as “reckless” and a “foolish attempt to appease an authoritarian strongman” – a seeming reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Even Trump’s allies accused him of turning his back on the Kurds, who lead the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and say they lost some 11,000 fighters as the main frontline force against the Islamic State group.

“A precipitous withdrawal of US forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime,” said Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, one of the senior Republicans who criticised Trump. “And it would increase the risk that Isis and other terrorist groups regroup.”

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called Trump’s action a “shot in the arm to the bad guys”.

“This impulsive decision by the president has undone all the gains we’ve made, thrown the region into further chaos,” Graham said in an interview on Fox and Friends.

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Erdogan on Monday said the operation into Syria could “come any night without warning”, while Kurds in the area girded for fighting.

“The prudent should prepare for war,” said Mustefa Bozan, 79, a shopkeeper in Ras al-Ain, where a contingent of US Special Forces had been until early Monday.

Ankara says it wants to establish a “safe zone” on the Syrian side of the border where it could send back some of the 3.6 million refugees from the eight-year civil war.

Kurds argue that Ankara’s goal is to dilute their dominance in the region with an influx of mostly Sunni Arab refugees now living in southwestern Turkey.

Trump’s announcement appeared to have caught many US officials by surprise, and they spent Monday seeking to discourage Ankara from acting.

Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman warned Turkey of destabilising blowback to the region if it invaded.

“The Department of Defence made clear to Turkey – as did the president – that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in Northern Syria,” he said.

SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said Washington’s decision “is about to ruin the trust and cooperation between the SDF and US”.

“As the Syrian Democratic Forces, we are determined to defend our land at all costs,” the group said.

Turkish President Erdogan to meet Trump in US over Syria ‘safe zone’

A Turkish attack raised the spectre of some 10,000 Isis fighters currently held by the SDF being let loose if SDF soldiers have to battle Turkish troops.

Around 2,000 of them are Isis “foreign fighters”, and Trump assailed US allies in Europe for not taking back their nationals.

If they escape or are released, the could reconstitute the Islamic State, less than one year after it was defeated and its “caliphate” disintegrated.

Trump declared that it would be the responsibility of Turkey and other countries to deal with the IS prisoners.

“Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out, and what they want to do with the captured Isis fighters in their ‘neighbourhood’,” he said, using another acronym for the jihadists.

Additional reporting by AP