Ben Cowles
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TURKEY brushed off today US President Donald Trump’s Sunday night threat to economically “devastate” the country should it attack Syria’s Kurds.
The US president took to Twitter late on Sunday to admonish the Nato ally, which is reportedly amassing its military forces near the Syrian border.
Mr Trump wrote: “[We are] starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining Isis territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. [We] will attack again from existing nearby [bases] if it reforms.
“[We] will devastate Turkey economically if they hit [the] Kurds,” he threatened, adding that there needs to be a 20-mile “safe zone” between the two sides.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded to Mr Trump’s comments during a press conference in Ankara yesterday with his counterpart from Luxembourg.
“We have said repeatedly,” Mr Cavusoglu said, “we are not scared of and will not be intimidated by any threats.
“Strategic partners, allies, do not hold discussions via Twitter, via social media.”
Relations between the two countries have been complicated by the US support for the Kurdish militia forces, known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey maintains is a terrorist force.
Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin blasted Mr Trump on the president’s favourite social media platform.
“Mr @realDonaldTrump,” he wrote on Twitter early this morning, “it is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK, which is on the US terror list, and its Syria branch PYD/YPG.”
“Terrorists can’t be your partners and allies. Turkey expects the US to honour our strategic partnership and doesn’t want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda.”
