WE WILL DAMAGE TURKEY ECONOMICALLY OR THE DIPLOMACY OF DONALD TRUMP'S TWEET

US President Donald Trump threatened Turkey on Sunday (January 13th) with an economic catastrophe in the event of an attack on the Kurds after the next withdrawal of US troops from Syria. "We will devastate Turkey economically if it attacks the Kurds," tweeted Donald Trump. The announcement in December of the withdrawal of US military personnel deployed to Syria to combat ISIL has weakened the situation of Kurdish fighters who fought alongside the United States against the Islamic State (IS) organization.

Indeed, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has never hidden his will to fight the Kurds, members of the militia Protection of the People (YPG). Turkey regards them as "terrorists" because of their alleged links with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which has been guerrilla fighting in Turkish territory since 1984. It fears the formation of a Kurdish state on its doorstep. able to revive the separatist aspirations of the Turkish Kurds.

No wonder Ankara responded sharply to Donald Trump's tweet, pointing out that Turkey was waiting for the United States to honor its partnership. "Mr @ realDonaldTrump, it is a fatal mistake to equate the Kurds of Syria with the PKK [the Kurdistan Workers' Party], which is on the US list of terrorist organizations, and its Syrian branch of the PYD [Party of Labor]. Democratic Union] - YPG [People's Protection Units], writes on Twitter the spokesman of the Turkish Presidency Ibrahim Kalin.

Turkey is fighting against terrorists, not against Kurds. "Terrorists can not be your partners and your allies. Turkey expects the United States to honor our strategic partnership and does not want it to be overshadowed by terrorist propaganda, "he added.

Donald Trump, who did not give a precise timetable for the withdrawal of 2000 US troops from Syria, asked Kurds not to provoke Turkey. He also called for the creation of a "safety zone" of 30 kilometers, without further details on its location or its financing.

"Russia, Iran and Syria have been the biggest beneficiaries of the long-term US policy of destroying the Islamic State group in Syria - natural enemies. We also benefit but it is now time to bring our troops home.

STOP THE ENDLESS WARS, "concluded the US President.

Joanne Courbet for DayNewsWorld