JERUSALEM — President-elect Trump could be the key factor in stopping Turkey's alleged destruction of the pro-American Syrian Kurdish community, Fox News chief strategist and retired Gen. Jack Keane told Fox News Channel's Mark Levin on “Life, Freedom and Levin” on Saturday. .
“Erdogan is a real problem here. He has a corridor in northern Syria. He supported the extremist leader who took power, Al-Julani, in overthrowing Assad because he wanted Assad gone as we all did for years, but now what is the situation? What is he doing now? And he is attacking the Syrian Kurds.” “Whom we support in eastern Syria.”
“Biden won't do anything about it, but President Trump has a great opportunity, and I know for a fact that President Trump dealt with Erdogan once before on the same issue. It stopped as a result of a phone call,” Kaine said. The conversation he had with President Erdogan.”
Experts say that the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria represents a strategic blow to Iran and Russia
A masked Islamic State terrorist holding an ISIS flag in 2015. (History/Universal Image Collection via Getty Images)
Kaine said one of Trump's first phone conversations once he takes office will likely be with Erdogan, “if he hasn't already started talking to him.”
He said the motive of the Syrian Kurds in eastern Syria is not to seize Turkish territory but to ensure that ISIS remains defeated and to ensure that they “do not rise again,” adding that the United States “does not need to intervene in any significant way.” In Syria, other than protecting our own interests and ensuring that ISIS does not emerge again in eastern Syria, which they have the ability to do.”
While world leaders are largely focused on the collapse of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Turkey's powerful ruler, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has mobilized forces loyal to his government to eliminate Kurdish fighters on his southern border with Syria, helping the United States defeat the ISIS terrorist movement.
President Trump meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House, November 13, 2019. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Alarm bells are ringing about The difficult plight of the Syrian Kurds.
“Turkey has become very aggressive,” warned Efrat Aviv, a professor in the Department of Public History at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and a leading expert on Turkish affairs. “If they unleash them in Syria, they may secretly commit ethnic cleansing.” In a statement to Fox News Digital.
In an apparent attempt to modify his jihadist movement, Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham movement, classified as a terrorist group by the United States and which played a decisive role in overthrowing the Assad regime, said: “The Kurds are part of the nation and we have suffered great injustice, as happened to us with the fall of system, the injustice they suffered may also be lifted.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad flees into exile as Islamist rebels invade the country
US forces provide military training to members of the People's Protection Units/Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria, August 18, 2023. (Hadeel Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ahmed Al-Sharaa, known until recently by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad theAl-Julani is allied with Türkiye. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the United States had “direct contact” with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, despite it being a banned terrorist entity.
Mazloum Abdi, commander of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, on Saturday urged Kurdish parties in northeastern Syria (Rojava) to form a united front.
“Today, Kurdish national unity in Syria has become a historical necessity in response to the challenges of this critical stage,” Abdi wrote on the .
Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Published on X“In the past, I have crafted sanctions targeting Turkey if it engages in military operations against Kurdish forces that helped President Trump destroy ISIS. I am prepared to do so again in a bipartisan manner.
“We should not allow Kurdish forces – who helped us destroy ISIS under President Trump – to be threatened by Turkey or the radical Islamists who have taken over Syria.”
The Dutch Parliament also intervened Last week to protect the Syrian Kurds, she urged her government to call for a halt to Turkish attacks on the Kurds.
President Biden and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speak during the G7 Summit on June 14, 2024, in Fasano, Italy. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) Announced on Sunday In response to the ongoing attacks launched by pro-Turkish forces, “We face great threats and risks, and we call on the international coalition and the whole world to unite with us to protect Kobani.”
The statement continued, “The world now owes Kobani and its fighters, and it is time to stand by Kobani,” calling on the international coalition and freedom-loving individuals to unite and preserve the dignity and humanity of the region.
Cypriot official: Türkiye's threats of invasion must be taken “seriously”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on December 13, 2024 in Ankara. (Getty Images)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who was the former head of Turkey's intelligence service, said Sunday in Jordan about his country's view of the Kurdish political and military organizations, the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the People's Defense Units. People's Protection Units: “We are under threat from Iraq and Syria. Over the past decade, the PKK has sought to exploit the chaos in Syria, trying to restructure itself within the SDF organisation. We continue to combat PKK/YPG terrorism, targeting them wherever they are. “
He added: “Our goal is to distinguish the Syrian Kurds from the terrorist organization PKK/YPG. We support the legitimate representatives of the Syrian Kurds in their efforts to defend their rights in Damascus.”
The YPG is the main force allied with the United States that contributed to the defeat of ISIS. The United States has designated the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization. The People's Protection Units fall under the umbrella of the Syrian Kurdish organization, the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Turkish government intensified its rhetoric against the Kurds. Turkish Minister of Defence Yaşar Guler said on Sunday “Our main agenda is to dissolve the PKK/YPG.”
Displaced Kurds leave a refugee camp north of Aleppo and flee to Afrin on December 4, 2024. (Ugur Yildirim/DIA Images/Abaca/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)
“As we assess the recent Turkish airstrikes on Syrian Kurds and reports of Hamas activists in Turkey, it is clear that our alliances must be grounded,” Arizona Republican Rep. Abraham Hamadeh, whose parents were Syrian immigrants, told Fox News Digital. For decades, Turkey has been a strategic partner, but hosting groups like Hamas without taking clear steps toward dismantling their operations would undermine this relationship and Turkey must seize this opportunity To demonstrate its commitment to fighting terrorism, not enabling it.”
When asked by Fox News Digital if the United States was considering sanctions on Turkey, a State Department spokesperson said: “As a general matter, we are not reviewing sanctions.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The State Department referred Fox News Digital on Friday to comments made earlier Friday after Blinken's meeting with Fidan in Türkiye.
The statement said, in part, “Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of US-Turkish cooperation in the global coalition to defeat ISIS in Syria.”
