The Turkish president wants to "decapitate" the command of the YPG, the Kurdish forces in Syria.
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| Photo Credit: AFP |
Target? Mazloum Abdi, whose troops fought against the Islamic State (IS) group and constitute the de facto army of the moribund Kurdish autonomous region of Syria. "America must hand us this man [who] under the code name of Mazloum is a terrorist wanted by a red notice" from Interpol, Erdogan said in an interview with state-owned media TRT. A leitmotif of the regime.
Ironically, a group of US senators this week urged the State Department to quickly grant a visa to Mazloum Abdi, so he can travel to the United States to discuss with officials of the situation in Syria. During the long years of fighting ISIS, the SDFs have been supported by the Washington-led coalition, which has since been accused of abandoning them in northern Syria and allowing the offensive launched by Ankara on 9 October. against the YPG in northeastern Syria.
Erdogan's visit to Trump in November
Mazloum Abdi announced on October 16th the freezing of operations against ISIS, which has become a clandestine organization since its defeat on the ground in March.
Relations between the United States and Turkey have escalated after the outbreak of Turkish military operations in Syria, but President Donald Trump hinted Wednesday that his meeting scheduled for November 13 at the White House with Recep Tayyip Erdogan would have a location. He also lifted the economic sanctions against Turkey as soon as the signing of the Russo-Turkish agreement was ratified and the Ankara troops' offensive halted.
Not surprisingly, Erdogan confirmed that he was planning to visit Donald Trump on that date.