The U.S. is engaged in a showdown with Turkey over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threats to “eliminate” America’s Kurdish and Christian allies in northeast Syria.
Erdogan says he will invade northeast Turkey “very soon” to “eliminate all threats to its national security,” a commonly used euphemism by the Islamist president against the Kurds and other minority groups which comprise the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Erdogan views the SDF — America’s allies who eliminated ISIS — as a threat to Turkey due to the Kurd’s aspirations for sovereignty.
An attack would also threaten the safety of U.S. forces working with the SDF in the area. It would also mean that the Kurds would not have the capacity to guard the 15,000 foreign ISIS fighters they have captured, as every soldier would be needed for the fight against Turkey.
Although Erdogan has been making the threats for a number of months, in recent days, the Turks appear to have opened a section of the border wall, making way for an invasion.
Watch the following clip, which features 27-year old Zeobia, a young Christian woman who is part of the Syriac Christian women’s protection forces. Zenobia issues a heartfelt plea to her Christian brethren in America to help prevent a Turkish invasion:
A heartfelt plea to her Christian brethren in America
Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who is engaged in talks with Turkey to prevent the invasion told reporters, “Clearly we believe any unilateral action by them would be unacceptable.”
Esper and other U.S. defense officials negotiating with the Turks have proposed a “safe zone” along the border as a buffer area. Yet the Turks have rejected the proposal saying it doesn’t keep the Kurds far enough away from the Turkish border.
UK’s Telegraph reports that Turkish media has been showing military convoys — including fighting units and military equipment — heading for the Syrian border in recent weeks.
“The US does not want to abandon an ally in a time of need, but it is also not about to kill NATO member [Turkish] troops,” a Western diplomat told the Telegraph. “There has to be a pragmatism, the U.S. was never going to be able to support a Kurdish state with no international recognition.”