President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is "just like an island" for having decided to withdraw US forces that were in northeastern Syria, a decision advocated in his international commitment reduction policy.
Trump defended his decision in a party conclave, in which he said "it's time" to bring back the US military instead of having them fight "in endless wars."
He described the Middle East as an irremediably violent region, arguing that it is more insecure despite American military intervention. “They fight, that's what they do. They fight all the time, ”Trump said.
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Trump's decision has been criticized by politicians of all trends, nationally and internationally. Trump is accused of causing instability and of endangering Kurdish militiamen who had helped the United States defeat the group calling itself the Islamic State.
Turkey considers those same Kurds as terrorists and a threat against their sovereignty, and has launched a military offensive against them.
Although the sanctions will not be activated immediately, they have the power to "paralyze the Turkish economy," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in announcing Trump's decision at a press conference. “These are very powerful sanctions. We hope we don't have to use them, ”Mnuchin added.
Almost simultaneously, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Turkey "will not suspend" its current operation in Syria against a Kurdish militia supported by the West, and rejected all "threats" in this regard.
