ANKARA: TurkishPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent more troops to Syria's border ahead of animminent US withdrawal, as the White House announced he had invited DonaldTrump to Ankara. Unlike several other allies of the United States, Turkey haspraised President Trump's decision to withdraw 2,000 of his ground forces fromSyria, a country where it will now have a freer rein to target Kurdishfighters.
On Monday, Ankarasent more troops to its Syrian border and said an offensive targeting theSyrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia and IS group will belaunched in the coming months. Turkey views the YPG as a "terroristoffshoot" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has wagedan insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. But the militia has alsobeen a key US ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, working withAmerican forces on the ground there.
"Just as wedid not leave our Syrian Arabs to Daesh (IS), we will not leave Syrian Kurds tothe cruelty of the PKK," Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara. A Turkishmilitary convoy arrived overnight on Monday at the border with local mediareporting that some vehicles had entered Syria. In a telephone conversationSunday between Trump and Erdogan, which both sides described as"productive", they agreed to avoid a power vacuum in Syria after theUS withdrawal.
"PresidentErdogan invited President Trump to visit Turkey in 2019. While nothing definiteis being planned, the President is open to a potential meeting in thefuture," a White House spokesperson later said on Monday evening. Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin toldreporters on Monday that a US military delegation would arrive this week to"discuss how to coordinate (the withdrawal) with their counterparts".A Turkish foreign ministry delegation would go to Washington for talks earlyJanuary, he added.
Trump stunned theUS political establishment and allies last week with his decision, days afterErdogan had warned that Ankara would soon launch an offensive in northernSyria. Critics of Trump's decision fear that thousands of Islamic State (IS)group extremist members are still thought to be in Syria, despite Trump's claimof having defeated IS. The US leader tweeted that Erdogan had told him Ankarawould "eradicate" the last IS elements. And Kalin vowed that therewas "no question of a step backwards, vulnerability or a slowdown in thefight against Daesh (IS)". He added: "Turkey will show the same determinationagainst Daesh. To beat Daesh, we don't need the PKK or the YPG. We can bringpeace to this region."
The Turkishmilitary convoy with howitzers, artillery batteries and several units of thearmed forces, was deployed to the border district of Elbeyli in Kilis province,state news agency Anadolu reported on Monday. Parts of the convoy had enteredSyria, the private IHA news agency reported, which said the reinforcementswould take place "gradually". The deployment began over the weekendwith around 100 vehicles, the Hurriyet daily said, and crossed into the Al-Babregion, headed towards Jarabulus and YPG-held Manbij.
Jarabulus andAl-Bab were areas captured from IS during Ankara's first military operation inAugust 2016 which lasted until March 2017. Military reinforcements had alsobeen sent to the Akcakale border town and Ceylanpinar district, both in thesoutheastern Sanliurfa province. Turkey conducted a second offensive withSyrian rebels against the YPG in its northwestern enclave of Afrin in Januarythis year. Turkish officials have previously said Ankara has no territorialambitions in Syria.
Trump's move hassparked dismay among many allies and turmoil within his administration. FirstDefense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned, then Brett McGurk, the special envoy tothe anti-IS coalition, stepped down. American support for the YPG, under thebanner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, has long been a sourceof tension between NATO allies the US and Turkey.
But relations betweenthe Turkish and American leaders appear to have improved substantially since acrisis in the summer over the detention of a US pastor, since released. Lastweek, the US approved the sale of $3.5 billion in missiles to Turkey, afterAmerican outrage over Ankara's major arms purchase from Russia. But there arestill strains over the US refusal to extradite Fethullah Gulen, thePennsylvania-based Muslim preacher who Turkey says ordered the 2016 failedcoup. - AFP