President announces new Turkey sanctions, amid fury over fake video of him killing journalists shown at Mar-a-Lago
Move comes amid outcry over ‘abandoning’ of Kurdish forces
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Donald Trump has announced new sanctions on Turkey, amid a mounting outcry over its assault upon Kurdish fighters as it invaded northern Syria, and the escape from prisons of Isis fighters.
The president last week gave a green light for Ankara to launch its long-planned military operation into northeast Syria after he pulled out a small number of US special forces who had been working with the Kurds, whose soldiers had spearheaded the operation to destroy Isis.
On Monday, the president signed executive orders to sanction Turkey and suspend negotiations on a $100 billion trade deal. He said he will also boost tariffs on Turkish steel to 50 per cent.
In a statement in which he vowed to swiftly destroy the Turkish economy if it continued down “this dangerous and destructive path”, Mr Trump said US troops coming out of Syria will redeploy and remain in the region to monitor the situation.
Later in the day, the White House announced the president was sending Mike Pence to the Middle East, as tensions rose.
Mr Pence said Mr Trump spoke directly to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“President Trump communicated to him very clearly that the United States of America wants Turkey to stop the invasion, implement an immediate ceasefire and to begin to negotiate with Kurdish forces in Syria to bring an end to the violence,” he said.
Mr Trump’s decision to abandon the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Force was criticised at home and abroad as opening the door to a resurgence of Isis, and for betraying a group that had previously worked with the US against Isis.
As Turkish forces and their Syrian Arab proxies advanced, forcing the Kurds to reduce the number of fighters guarding several prisons containing Isis prisoners, a number of detainees are able to flee.
The Kurds also announce they had deceived to strike a deal with the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, the president’s have been condemned for screening a meme of the president killing journalists in a church and pistol-whipping the late senator John McCain at the American Priority Conference, hosted at his own Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in Florida.
The president has reportedly called the CEO of Fox News, Suzanne Scott, to complain over the “unfair” coverage his administration has received regarding the House impeachment inquiry. He recently complained the network is “much different than it used to be in the good old days”.
On the Sunday morning talk show circuit, US defence secretary Mark Esper admitted that Turkey “appears to be” committing war crimes against America’s Kurdish allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces, as a retired Marine general says Mr Trump has “blood on his hands” over the crisis unfolding on the northern Syria border.
To see how this story played out please read below
Meanwhile, via the Associated Press, we're learning that vice president Mike Pence says he's being dispatched to the Middle East by Mr Trump. Mr Pence said Mr Trump spoke with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier kn Monday and called for an immediate end to Turkey's moves against the Kurds in Syria
The top Republican on the House foreign affairs committee has said the economic sanctions against Turkey do not go far enough. “We appreciate the administration's planned sanctions, but it does not go far enough to punish Turkey for its egregious offenses in Syria,” congressman Mike McCaul's office said in a statement, according to Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies