The US mediated a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds in Syria. You should be the solution to a problem, the Trump himself has caused. An end to suffering, but it is unlikely.
Trump speaks in Texas, and can celebrate
US President, Donald Trump is not particularly concerned about the Situation on the Turkish-Syrian border. On Thursday, he compared the conflict between the Turkish military and Kurdish troops with a quarrel between two children. “Sometimes you have to leave for a while to fight,” Trump said in front of supporters in Texas. “Then one pulls apart you are.” Both sides have fought fiercely, added the US President.
Nearly 500 people are said to have come since the beginning of the Turkish military offensive last week, lost their lives, including 72 civilians. The data come from the Syrian Observatory for human rights, which has its headquarters in the UK and information of supporters from Syria refers to. The information can be difficult to verify independently. From other sources it says up to 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes. And UNICEF reported that the battles have set up a water station out of operation, the 400,000 people with water supplied. With a Playground tussle that has nothing in common.
Problem solved – Problem?
On 6. In October, the President announced the withdrawal of US troops from Northern Syria. In a Statement from the White house, it was said that Turkey would begin “soon, with their long-planned Operation in Northern Syria.” The US military, so it was not going to assist the Turkish troops in this Operation. But a condemnation of the speech was also not. And, although the Operation against Kurdish militias established, which were among the most important allies in the fight by the United States against the “Islamic state”.
However, shortly after the Turkish military invaded Syria and even by many Republicans as to whether the brutal violence, harsh criticism rained – threatened Trump with a “total destruction” of the Turkish economy. On Thursday, Trump announced that the United States, represented by Vice-President Mike Pence on a Ankara-visit, with Turkey, a ceasefire had to be negotiated, and threatened sanctions should be deleted.
Pence and Erdogan a ceasefire agree – not a permanent solution
What a success! But what the US President proudly presented to the Public, “was the solution to a Problem he himself has caused,” said Frances Brown, a member of the think-tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in an interview with DW. The behavior of the US government is confusing for allies: “The sanctions are announced for an action, of which Turkey believed that you had to get the green light from the White house.”
“No serious strategy”
Bulent Aliriza, the founding Director of the Turkey Project at think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) goes even further. He could not recall, that the Vice President Pence, the foreign Minister, Mike Pompeo, and National Security Advisor Robert O’brien had been traveling ever third somewhere, “to eliminate the confusion that Trump has done,” said Aliriza of the DW. The three most important representative of the President in foreign policy were flown on Wednesday to Ankara. “It is almost embarrassing to watch the contortions of the US-foreign policy, Mr. trump’s strange and unbalanced behavior requires,” says Aliriza more.
Pence and Pompeo in Ankara: “contortions of US foreign policy”?
It is said that military advisers were not consulted before the White house announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the North of Syria. The permanent Changes were observed in the last few days, seem to confirm this. “I think you can say that there is no serious strategy,” says Michael Singh, Director of the Washington Institute for near East policy and former adviser to the former US Secretary of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. “The Competent have to hurry now, to be able to quickly create a new strategy present.”
Now, as experts agree, have done the past 12 days, a great deal of damage. The Kurds feel the US has betrayed and abandoned. Turkey, too, has snubbed Trump, not least with a letter, in which he on Wednesday, June 9. October asked to be a “fool”. And other international allies, has shown the arbitrary behavior of the United States, you can’t rely on Washington. “Opponents of the USA like to spread that our country is an unreliable Partner,” says foreign policy expert Brown. “We have now proven themselves.”
Triple step back in Syria
With regard to the US strategy for Syria – it was time. The Trump Administration had set three objectives for the civil war-ridden country: The “Islamic state” final defeat, the Iranian influence in Syria, reduce and irrevocable and for the United States favorable political change.
Escalation in the North of Syria – with consequences for the Region
“The latest developments may be a re-strengthening of ISIS [Islamic state, ed.] lead,” said Singh of the DW. “It will certainly strengthen the Iranian Position in Syria. And the United States are likely to have less influence on a political agreement. We have, therefore, been thrown in all of the three points.”
The future begins on Tuesday
The US-highly-acclaimed ceasefire is valid only for five days. After that, it is unclear, finally, not far from all of the pages in the way Trump did it. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to a cease-fire by five days under the condition that all the Kurdish troops from an area, pull back, around 32 kilometres extends deep into Syria, and about 440 kilometers to the Turkish-Syrian border along. Ankara insists for a long time that this “safety zone” will be cleared of all Kurdish militias, which views Turkey as a terrorist-organizations. Ankara plans to own information, Syrian refugees currently in Turkey, in the Region to relocate.
Erdogan gets exactly what he wants. But in the field also, some of the Kurdish cities and parts of a major highway are located. On the Kurdish side, the enthusiasm is limited. “Our people did not want this war,” said the Kurdish politician Saleh Muslim, a local TV station, according to the British Guardian. “Ceasefire is one thing and surrender is another thing. We are ready to defend us. We will not accept the occupation of Northern Syria.”
On Tuesday, when the ceasefire comes to an end, meets Erdogan with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Experts believe that the Russian influence in the Region will continue to grow after the withdrawal of the United States. As the Turkey continues, depends probably also on what kind of support will offer to Putin, his Turkish counterpart.
The article was supported by research by Alexander Matthews.