Posted on 12/25/2018 9:38:43 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey said Tuesday it is working with the United States to coordinate the withdrawal of American forces but remains “determined” to clear U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters from northeastern Syria.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that “if Turkey says it will enter, it will,” in comments carried by private DHA news agency.
For weeks, Turkey has been threatening to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish fighters, who partnered with the U.S. to drive the Islamic State group out of much of northern and eastern Syria. Ankara views the Kurdish forces as terrorists because of their links to an insurgent group inside Turkey.
President Donald Trump announced the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month.
The minister also said Ankara and Washington have agreed to complete a roadmap on the northern Syrian town of Manbij until the U.S. withdraws. Under the June deal, Kurdish forces would leave Manbij, in the western Euphrates valley, but delays have infuriated Turkey.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
“Are the Kurds Christian, or non-Muslim, or a breakaway Muslim sect?”
Kurds are mostly Sunni muslims, but tend to be less strict/less observant than Arab Sunnis. Some Kurds are Shia muslims, and some are other religions (notably Yazidi). Their culture is based in the Zoroastrianism of the ancient Persian Empire, and the Zoroastrian New Year’s celebration is still their biggest holiday.
The SDF Kurds in Syria are basically secular - more like a communist guerrilla cult, than religious.
The Kurds ALWAYS get hurt.
This time, as usual, they saw a (very unlikely) path to a nation- and they took the bait.
Historically that has been their downfall.
Yup, you're wrong. To protect the Kurds we would have to conquer the Middle East with a force of 80-100 divisions, and if Bush wouldn't/couldn't raise such a force in 2001 it certainly isn't going to happen now.
The American people voted decisively on land war in Southwest Asia in 2006 and 2008.
Give it up. The area belongs to Turkey and Iran. The Saudi royalty are dead meat. Get the hell out before any more of our irreplaceable heroes gets hurt.
The dissolution of the four great empires in 1919 was a disaster which has brought nothing but death and suffering upon the world in the century since.
If the state called "Syria" disappeared tomorrow to be controlled by Turks, or Persians, or both, the world would be a better place.
And that goes double for "Saudi" Arabia.
Definitely agree with get our people out. What a mess of a place, not worth one brave American military person’s life.
Austria-Hungary, Ottoman, Russia, and....
Prussia?
Wakanda (Black Panther)?
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