Trump warns Turkey and Kurds to not escalate Syria conflict.

President Donald Trump and President Tayyip Erdogan. Politico/AFP/Getty.

President Trump has sent warnings to both Turkey and the Kurds to not escalate their conflict. Politico. Trump called for a 20 mile safe zone for the Kurds and threatened to devastate Turkey economically if they hit the Kurds. He also told the Kurds to not provoke Turkey. America is in Syria to fight ISIS, who have largely been defeated and will pull out when that mission is done. The Kurds have been a steady ally against ISIS and though Turkey is nominally on the same side, but the two groups hate each other. President Trump may end up meeting with Edrogan later this year. 

Starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. Will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms. Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds. Create 20 mile safe zone....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2019

....Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey. Russia, Iran and Syria have been the biggest beneficiaries of the long term U.S. policy of destroying ISIS in Syria - natural enemies. We also benefit but it is now time to bring our troops back home. Stop the ENDLESS WARS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2019

My Comment:
It's always something. I had thought right after Trump had announced the pullout in Syria, if anything was going to screw it up, it would be the Turks. Turkey has been a terrible ally in the fight against ISIS and was even de facto supporting them by buying oil at one point. That stopped after ISIS targeted the country, but even after that they were much more interested in killing the Kurds instead of ISIS. 

The Kurds, for their part, have been very good allies. Unlike pretty much every other group that the Americans tried to use in their fight against ISIS, they actually fought. So many of the rebels we armed under the Obama administration ended up either just being defeated immediately or handed their weapons over to ISIS or al-Nusra. And unlike other groups, the Kurds actually fight. Our strongest allies in the region did nothing but offer token airstrikes.

Withdrawing from Syria is the right thing to do. We have no interest in Syria outside of defeating ISIS. Iran, Russia and Syria's goals in the country don't matter too much to us, other than the threat against Israel, and Israel has shown it can more than hold its own against the Hezbollah threat.

Supporting the Kurds is also the right thing to do. Though I disagree with their politics, they have been a steadfast ally and one that has earned consideration. They have been much better allies than Turkey and they do not deserve to be wiped out by them. 

The problem is that the Turks hate the Kurds. Some of that is due to the PKK, a communist terror group that is known for being one of the few secular groups out there that use suicide bombings. That being said, even if the PKK didn't exist, the Turks would hate the Kurds anyways. It's not about politics it's about making sure Turkey is culturally dominated by Turks.

This leaves President Trump in a difficult position. He wants out of Syria and wants out of Syria now. But if he does so Turkey is probably going to commit genocide on the Turks and ensure that they never have a state of their own. Protecting the Kurds means keeping troops inside of Syria or playing hardball with Turkey.

So what punishment could Trump impose on the Turks? Sanctions should be the major one. Tariffs is also a weapon that Trump enjoys using and both could "devastate the economy" like Trump has threatened. Does Turkey care though? I kind of doubt it. They hate the Kurds so much they may think that pissing off their most powerful and important ally is worth it.

I have said before that Turkey shouldn't be in NATO. All they seem to do is cause problems for us and are not good allies. I think the time has come for them to be out of the alliance. They were originally there to provide a speed bump for Russia in the event of a European war but that seems extremely unlikely, at least under President Trump. Reevaluating our relationship with them is long overdue.