President-elect Donald Trump explained The fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime is the culmination of years of intervention by Turkey, which despises President Bashar Assad as a “butcher” and which the people “can't ignore,” but the Islamicist Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has He declared that he was the biggest winner of the war. on monday.
President Assad fled the country for Russia on December 7-8 after the al-Qaeda terrorist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attacked the city of Damascus and Assad's forces fled. HTS currently controls the Syrian government and claims to lead the transition to an “inclusive” state. islamistthe new regime in Syria. Outgoing President Joe Biden's administration “recognizes and fully supports the future Syrian government that emerges from a fair and 'inclusive' transition process.”
A Syrian rebel holds a rocket launcher in front of the provincial government building, whose front is riddled with bullets and a statue of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the aftermath of the rebels' capture of the Syrian city of Hama on Friday, December 6. pro-government fighter. 2024. (Ghaith Al-Sayed/Associated Press)
According to some reports, HTS jihadist leaders contacted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as early as six months before they began carrying out their plan to conquer Syria's second city, Aleppo, in late November. This led to the rapid conquest of the city, which was soon completed. – Bloodless occupation of Damascus. President Erdoğan, who once vowed to “end the tyrant Assad's rule” by invading Syria, has publicly stated: cheered For the Syrian rebels. However, Turkey is believed to be much closer to another Sunni jihadist force in Syria than HTS. The Syrian National Army (SNA) is a Turkish proxy organization that grew out of the defunct Free Syrian Army (FSA) and continues to wage war against the Kurdish population. Northern Syria despite the fall of the Assad regime.
Syria's civil war began in 2011 with protests against the decades-long regime of the Assad dynasty, and President Bashar al-Assad responded with a brutal crackdown on dissidents. Turkey has been conducting military activities in Syria in recent years, but mainly against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), which is an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). They claim to be part of the same group as Marxist terrorists. While the PKK is a US-designated terrorist organization, the YPG is a close ally of the US in the fight against Islamic State as part of the larger Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“Nobody knows what the final outcome of this region will be,” President-elect Trump told reporters Monday at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, mansion. “Nobody really knows who the opponent in the final is, but I believe it will be Turkey. And I think Turkey is very smart. conducted an occupation.”
Referring to the collapse of the Assad regime, Trump called Erdogan a “very smart man” and “the guy behind it.” The Turks “wanted it,” he continued. [Syria] For thousands of years, and he [Erdogan] Understood. And the people who entered there are controlled by Türkiye. ”
Asked about the hundreds of U.S. troops deployed to Syria under the Biden administration, President Trump suggested he had no interest in keeping them there.
“We have 5,000 troops along the border, and I asked several generals,” Trump said, recalling his decision to withdraw from Syria during his first term in office. “So we had 250,000 troops in Syria and you had 400,000 troops. They have much more than that. By the way, Turkey is a powerful country. . And Erdoğan is a great person to me. But he has a large military force and is not war-weary.
Trump asked the generals, who he did not name, how safe Americans would be under the circumstances, and said the generals warned that they would be “annihilated.”
“They got too hot, so I moved them. And you know what happened? Nothing. Nothing. I saved a lot of lives,” Trump added. Ta.
Trump recalled Assad's decision to carry out airstrikes against Syrian troops following reports of a chemical attack by Assad's regime, saying Assad was a “butcher” and slaughtered children.
“It was a red line in the sand. Obama drew it, and he refused to honor what he did,” Trump recalled. “Assad then killed more children and Obama did nothing, but I did. I hit him with a bunch of missiles.”
Turkish state news agency Anadolu also reported favorably. relayed President Trump's comments on Syria's future cited President Erdoğan as “smart” and emphasized that Trump predicted, “I think Turkey will hold the key to Syria.”
Turkey has been actively attacking Kurdish forces associated with the YPG for years in northern Syria, a theater that remains largely isolated from the larger civil war against Assad. However, after the HTS attack on Aleppo, Turkey's proxy SNA launched a military operation against the SDF called “Dawn of Freedom” that continues to this day. The Biden administration is doing little to contain it. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Turkey led to a brief ceasefire in the disputed city of Manbij that lasted just under a week.
With little support from Washington, the SDF is reportedly planning to send a delegation to negotiate with HTS, which has a strained relationship at best with Turkey. Syria's Kurdish regions have raised the flag of anti-Assad rebels, and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said there was no reason for his group to clash with HTS.
“At the beginning of the incident, HTS informed us that our territory was not their target,” Abdi told Kurdish broadcaster Ronahi TV on Thursday. “We have an agreement with HTS regarding Aleppo and Deir Ezzor.”
Abdi warned that Turkey's intervention had “shut down” joint operations between the U.S. military and the Self-Defense Forces against the Islamic State group.
“In general, when we focus on protecting civilians and communities, our military and coalition forces become less effective against ISIS because efforts are directed toward the ongoing conflict,” he explained in a recent interview. did. “This is why I say that if the fighting continues and intensifies, it will play into the hands of ISIS.”
The conflict between Türkiye and Kurdish forces has long been a complicated situation for the United States. Turkey is a key NATO ally, while Kurdish forces are supporting the U.S. military's fight against ISIS. During his first term as president, Trump had a mixed record of putting American interests at the forefront and supporting Kurdish forces. For example, the withdrawal of American troops from Syria was seen by supporters of Kurdish forces as a move that could undermine Kurdish efforts. But when President Trump felt that U.S. interests supported his decisions, such as when he threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if the Turkish military continued to attack Syrian Kurdistan in 2019, he He did not hesitate to support his troops.
Abdi, the SDF commander, conspicuously expressed gratitude to President Trump that year after Trump's intervention led to a ceasefire with Turkish forces.
“I thank President Trump for his tireless efforts in thwarting the brutal Turkish attack and jihadist group against our people,” Abdi said in a statement on social media.
President Trump issued a statement expressing his gratitude for the SDF's assistance, but emphasizing his view that American interests do not necessarily require taking sides with the United States.
“Turkey, Syria and all forms of Kurdistan have been fighting for centuries. We have provided them with a great service and have done a great job for all of them,” he said. Ta. “And now we're leaving. …Let someone else fight over these long bloodstained sands.”
