Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
In a letter, a group of 17 members of the U.S. House of Representatives cited Turkey’s leader as being “closer” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his taking other steps antithetical to U.S. interests.
Liz Cheney calls on Pompeo to expel Turkish bodyguards who beat Americans
“The regime’s use of violence against innocent civilians anywhere is inhumane, uncivilized and unacceptable,” said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) prior to a Washington visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The tally of the resolution, which recognizes the 1915 Turkish massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, was 405-11. The tally of the sanctions bill was 403-16.
As U.S. forces leave the region, Russia and Turkey agree on a joint plan to push Kurdish YPG fighters out of a 20-mile strip along the Syria-Turkey border.
Erdoğan: Turkey will resume its assault in northern Syria “with determination” when the U.S.-brokered ceasefire expires on Tuesday if all Kurdish forces have not withdrawn from the Syria-Turkey border region.
Sanctions would be removed once a permanent ceasefire takes effect on the condition that Turkey fight ISIS and help secure ISIS prisoners.
“Broadly speaking, the rest of America’s allies in the region are likely wondering whether they, too, could be cast aside this easily. This decision does not reflect well on American foreign policy,” says Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Afterwards, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss regional security and the U.S. withdrawal from Syria.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of northern Syria will contribute to a regional power vacuum that Islamists, both Sunni and Shi’ite, will promptly look to fill.
In an agreement between Turkey and the United States, joint U.S and Turkish ground and air patrols had created a security area that spans more than 78 miles along the Syria-Turkey border.
After years of inaction, Israel’s Foreign Ministry is drawing up a plan to stop Ankara’s efforts to undermine Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.
“You that brutally oppress the Turkish people, slaughter the Kurdish minority and support the terror organization Hamas, you are the last one that can lecture Israel. You are not the sultan, and Turkey is not the Ottoman Empire. Shame on you,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
