WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Friday criticism that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria is affecting the country’s credibility, betrays Kurdish allies, and opens the door to a possible resurgence of the extremist group Islamic State. The representative praised a ceasefire agreement that seemed to be in danger as both Turkey and Kurdish fighters differ on what it envisages and the cessation of fighting.” I think we’ve had tremendous success in recent days,” Trump said Friday, adding that “we’ve taken control of oil in the Middle East,” a claim that didn’t seem to be related to any known events in the region.
Trump repeated this claim twice on Friday, but other U.S. officials couldn’t explain what he meant. Calling his approach to Syria “a little unusual,” the president assured that his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Kurdish Syrian fighters on which Ankara launched an offensive agree that the Washington-sponsored truce was the step correct and they were complying with it.” There is goodwill on both sides and a very good chance of success,” he wrote on Twitter.This optimism seemed to contradict the words of Erdogan himself, who told reporters in Istanbul that Turkish forces would resume their attacks in four days unless Kurdish fighters withdraw “without exception” from the so-called safe zone, a strip of about 30 kilometers (20 miles) in Syria that stretches along the 440 kms (260 miles) of shared border. There was no indication of withdrawal from Kurdish forces, accusing Turkey of violating the truce by continuing fighting in a key border town. They also claimed that the agreement covers a much smaller part of the border. And some fighters said they won’t give ground, calling the U.S. treason deal. Kurdish-led forces fought alongside U.S. soldiers against Islamic State.Eric Edelman, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and who served as the top political leader of The Pentagon during George W. Bush’s presidency, noted that he doubts that Ankara and its Syrian allies can control the entire border, from the Euphrates to Iraq, without the help of Russia or others.” This is a large expanse of territory to maintain, although much of it is uninhabited,” Edelman explained. “This probably means they have already reached some agreement with the Russians and the Iranians.” Despite this, Trump insisted that peace was near.” There’s a ceasefire, or a pause or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “There were some sniper fire this morning” in addition to mortar fire, but it ended quickly and the area returned to a “full pause,” he added. Trump also said that some European nations are now willing to take responsibility for detaineeist IS fighters from their countries.”Nevertheless, a breakthrough is being made!!!!, ” cried the representative on Twitter.Trump gave no further details about the countries that it claims agreed to admit some members of the radical militia, one of their recurring requests. No European government announced its intention to take over IS instains.
