After Trump Threatens To ‘Devastate’ Turkish Economy, Erdogan Receptive To ‘Safe Zone’ For Syrian Kurds

Apparently taking President Trump at his word, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed a willingness to abide by the American demand that a “safe zone” be set up for Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Ankara views the Kurds as “terrorists” aligned with the banned PKK, a group that actually is designated “terrorist” by some Western states. Erdogan’s startling about-face reportedly came during a phone call with President Donald Trump, who earlier this week threatened to “devastate” the Turkish economy if Erdogan follows through on a pledge to launch a military operation against American-allied YPG units after the U.S. completes its troop withdrawal from Syria. Currently, the U.S.-backed Kurds control more than 250 miles of the Turkish-Syrian border and Erdogan fears that these forces could eventually turn their arms on his country. President Trump last month shocked allies and foes alike by announcing an immediate pull-out of U.S. soldiers from the war-torn nation, a move denounced by many – supporters and critics alike — as hasty, poorly thought-out and dangerous to two important allies: Kurdish fighters and Israel. The announcement of the pull-out sparked the embarrassing and rancorous severance from the administration of popular Defense Secretary James Mattis, senior official Brett McGurk – who publicly repudiated President Trump’s assertion that ISIS has been defeated; and apparently triggered an “exodus” of others from the State Department for whom the policy zig-zag was the final straw. Critics also noted the move does not dovetail with the U.S. administration’s over-arching goal of curbing the expansionism of Iran, which after Russia is the strongest player in the Syrian theater. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threw what might be a wrench in the works when he declared that Moscow sees the only solution to the matter of the territories in northern Syria under control of the Kurds is that they are turned-over to the Bashar Al-Assad regime.