German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has asked Turkey to stop the announced invasion of the Kurds in northern Syria. "I expect our NATO partner Turkey to do everything it can to stabilize the region and refrain from destabilizing it," the minister said during a troop visit to northern Mali.
At the same time, she announced that Germany would continue to support the Kurds in northern Iraq. "In any case, we must continue to train the Kurds in the Erbil area and make them more self-sufficient." According to Kramp-Karrenbauer, the current development shows that the extension of the Bundestag mandate for the mission to support the Kurds is correct.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had again announced on Saturday an early offensive in northern Syria. The region is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are dominated by the Kurdish YPG militias.
The White House recently announced that US forces would not stand in the way of a planned offensive by Turkey in northern Syria and would no longer be "in the immediate region" in the future. On Monday, 50 US troops withdrew from the Syrian-Turkish border area.
Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
US soldier in joint patrol with Turkish soldiers in Syria: withdrawal of the first 50
The move caused irritation and concern both in the US and internationally. (Read more here.) Trump has been accused, even from within his own ranks, of abandoning Kurdish militias in northern Syria. The YPG Kurdish militias were close associates of the US in the fight against the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS). They are the target of the Turkish offensive: Turkey sees in the YPG, which controls territories at the border, a terrorist organization.
US President Donald Trump denies abandoning the Kurds in northern Syria. The US may be about to leave Syria, "but we have in no way abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters," Trump tweeted. The US president again warned Turkey against invading northern Syria.
We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters. Likewise our relationship with Turkey, a NATO and Trading partner, has been very good. Turkey already has a large Kurdish population and fully ....
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 8 October 2019
