United States President, Donald Trump, has threatened to destroy Turkey’s economy if the country goes “off-limits” following his surprise decision to pull American forces out of north-eastern Syria.
In a series of angry tweets, Trump defended his move, which could open the way for Turkey to launch an attack on Kurdish fighters across the border.
The BBC reports that the withdrawal was heavily criticised even by Trump’s Republican allies.
Kurdish forces were key U.S allies in defeating the Islamic State in Syria.
But Turkey regards the Kurdish militias, which dominate the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as terrorists.
The US has some 1,000 troops across Syria, but only about two dozen had been pulled out from the border area, according to a senior state department official.
Read also: Trump threatens to ‘destroy’ Turkish economy over troops’ withdrawal from Syria
Trump initially tweeted on Monday, that he had been elected on “getting out of these ridiculous endless wars” and that “Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out.”
This had followed a phone call on Sunday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after which the White House said Turkey would be “moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria” and US forces would “no longer be in the immediate area.”
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