Middle East is about to plunge into a new crisis again, thanks partly to the United States. It seems that whenever the U.S. enters the region, a war will start. And now that the U.S. wants to quit, it also creates a new war. On Sunday, President Donald Trump reportedly had directed U.S. troops in northern Syria to begin pulling out “as safely and quickly as possible.”

 

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said – “We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it’s a very untenable situation.” Apparently, clashes between invading Turkish-led forces and Kurdish fighters have started, and Trump has very little appetite for a new war but to withdraw about 1,000 American troops in the region.

 

The decision to pull U.S. troops back from Syria, however, has been condemned as clearing the way for Turkish forces to slaughter the Kurdish fighters, arguably the most reliable U.S. allies who were instrumental in defeating the ISIS terrorists. For 5 years, the Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters have been American’s greatest partner against the terror group in the region.

Hence, critics say the U.S. has betrayed the Kurds by pulling back in the face of Turkey’s invasion. Mr. Esper, while admitting that the Kurds have been good partners, said the Trump administration was left with little choice after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the U.S. president a week ago that he was going ahead with a military offensive.

 

The Turkish invasion was used as a perfect excuse by the Trump administration to withdraw. The president said the “endless wars must end” and it was “very smart” not to be involved in the fighting along the Turkish border. In fact, he couldn’t care if other powers, presumably Russia, want to intervene in the conflict. He wrote in his tweet – “Let them!”

 

The surprise move represents a major shift in alliance for Kurdish forces. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who control a sizeable area of land in Syria’s northeast, which runs along the Turkish border was heavily slaughtered by Turkish air strike and land attacks. Founded in 2015, the SDF composed primarily of Kurdish, Arab and some smaller Armenian, Turkmen and Chechen forces.

As a result of the “U.S.’ betrayal”, the Kurdish did something stunning and unexpected. On Sunday, the Kurdish-led administration announced that it had struck a deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in order to combat the Turkish forces. Syrian government troops would be deployed in the north in order to fend off the Turkish incursion.

 

The Kurds also has turned to Russia for military assistance, further complicating the battlefield. Turkey’s assault on Kurdish-held areas stems from the group’s ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as the PKK, which has long fought an armed conflict for Kurdish independence against Turkey. Turkey has already labelled the PKK as a terrorist organization.

 

In short, the Turks hate the Kurds more than anyone, including the ISIS terrorists. Interestingly, the Turkish bombardment at the Kurds saw hundreds of ISIS supporters escaped from where they were being confined. U.S. Defense Secretary Esper said he was aware of reports of ISIS prisoners escaping due to the Turkish invasion, but decided to pull out anyway.

France and Germany have stepped up efforts to stop the Turkish offensive against Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said the Turkish offensive is creating “unsustainable” humanitarian problems and risks “helping the Islamic State group re-emerge in the region.”

 

But President Erdogan couldn’t care less even after Germany and France have suspended arms sales to Turkey. Instead, he has threatened to send “millions” of Syrian refugees to Europe in response to criticism of his military offensive into Kurdish-controlled northern Syria. “We will open the gates and send 3.6 million refugees your way,” – warned Erdogan.

 

The Kurdish authorities have accused Turkey of a “clear attempt” to help ISIS prisoners escape by shelling a prison holding militants of more than 60 nationalities. SDF has already warned the international community that Turkey cannot be trusted to detain ISIS fighters. But even if it’s true that Erdogan’s assault on the Kurds was partly to free the terrorists, it should not come as a surprise.

Yes, while everyone was busy combating the ISIS years ago, Erdogan families were caught doing business with the terror group. In 2015, Wikileaks released a cache of thousands of personal emails from the account of Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, showing links between him and a company implicated in deals with ISIS-controlled oil fields.

 

Albayrak, son-in-law of President Erdogan, together with Mr. Erdogan himself had been accused of having links to the smuggling of ISIS oil in 2015 by opposition politician Eren Erdem. In fact, Turkish media reported in 2014 and 2015 that the company – Powertrans – has been mixing oil produced by ISIS in neighbouring Syria to local shipments which eventually reached Turkey.

 

After a Turkish F-16 fighter jet to down a Russian Su-24 bomber jet over the Turkish-Syrian border, Russian had unveiled more proof that Erdogan and his family have benefited from the illegal smuggling of oil from ISIS-held territory – satellite images which showed columns of tanker trucks loaded with oil at an installation controlled by ISIS in Syria, before freely crossing the border into Turkey.

Erdogan’s son – Bilal Erdogan – was another player whose BMZ Group was involved in the illicit business of trading oil with the terror group Daesh (ISIS, ISIL, IS) using oil tankers registered in Malta and even flew the Maltese flag. In fact, Erdogan had deliberately shot down the Russian Su-24 after Russia’s air strikes damaged ISIS infrastructure and destroyed more than 500 trucks.

 

During the cold war between Turkish President Erdogan and Russian President Putin, Moscow had also revealed that ISIS militants made US$2 billion a year from the illegal oil trade especially with Turkey. With overwhelming evidence and reports from multiple parties, there was little doubt that Erdogan had played a role in encouraging the terror group ISIS.

 

Susan Rice, former Obama national security adviser, said Trump’s move to withdraw hastily was ill-advised – not just because it sent the wrong signal to U.S. allies around the globe (that Americans are untrustworthy), but because it could indirectly contribute to a revival of ISIS forces. She said Trump has offered a “get-out-of-jail-free-card” to ISIS terrorists.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said – “You don’t turn your back on an ally that lost 11,000 troops fighting against terrorism through a tweet and a discussion with Erdogan.“ However, Australia’s foreign minister says Turkey is solely responsible for the escape of Islamic State group fighters from custody in Syria.

 

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October 15th, 2019 by financetwitter

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