Nothing Trump did in the Middle East regarding Syria was discussed with the NATO Secretary General. There is a lot wrong with what occurred with Turkey. I think NATO has a vital role in this to decide what is the best path forward considering the USA and Turkey acted to weaken democracy and national security.
This is a crisis in many ways, but, it definitely is a crisis for NATO and it's surprising paradigm change when it comes to the Middle East. Both, Turkey and the USA have acted outside the treaty organization, however, the consequences clearly effects them all.
If Turkey is to continue with NATO, then the organization has to decide the frame in which this has taken place and restructure it's response. This is not simply actions that can be overlooked. The idea NATO's security never entered into the mind of the President and he alone allowed the actions of Turkey that has compromised a long held stability in the region raises serious questions for NATO.
Esper can point a finger at NATO, but, he really needs to look to the disaster Trump and Esper has caused here. He is the acting Defense Secretary, where was he when Trump called for troop withdrawal? Was there a call for troop withdrawal at all? The troops were caught in munitions fire from Turkey. There are many questions without sufficient answers, the least of them from Esper and his role in this.
I want to know if Guiliani was consulted by Trump. Where was the White House lawyers quoting treaties and giving pause to this still yet another relinquishment by Trump to Putin.
October 14, 2019
By Paul McCleary
Defense Secretary Mark Esper (click here) will travel to Brussels next week to demand NATO members implement “collective and individual diplomatic and economic measures” on Turkey as punishment for its incursion into Syria, he said today in a statement, setting in motion a process that could lead to historic penalties against a NATO ally.
It’s not clear what exactly those penalties might be, but a number of NATO states have already halted weapons sales and military aid to Ankara, as Congress readies its own punishing round of sanctions on the Turkish military that would effectively cut it off from the West.
The Trump administration today imposed a slew of economic sanctions on Turkey raising steel tariffs by 50 percent and halting negotiations over a $100 billion trade deal with the country. The Treasury Department also levied sanctions on Turkey’s ministries of defense and energy, as well as three senior Turkish officials.
Overseas, the European Union and some NATO countries have already started to move. EU foreign ministers today unanimously condemned Turkey’s bloody incursion, which has already seen its proxy forces film a roadside execution of a Syrian politician, as well as those of a number of Kurdish fighters. The Turkish actions “seriously undermines the stability and the security of the whole region,” the ministers said, but they stopped short of issuing a EU-wide arms embargo against Ankara....
There is a report in "Haaretz" that Russia intends to enter the conflicts (click here) currently unfolding in Syria to end them.
October 15, 2019
The U.S. said its forces had left the key northern Syrian city of Manbij on Tuesday as regime troops moved in, while Russia said it will not allow Turkish and Syrian government forces to clash on the seventh day of Ankara's incursion that aims to drive Kurdish militias away from a border area....
Turkey may be finding a serious wake up call with it's aggression into Syria. The Kurds have been absorbed by Assad.
October 15, 2019
A Turkish soldier was killed on Oct. 15 by the YPG, (click here) the Syrian arm of the outlawed PKK, in Manbij region, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"Following artillery fire by the terrorists from the Manbij region, one of our heroic comrades was martyred and eight were injured," the ministry said in a statement on Oct. 15.
“Targets in the firing zone were identified and immediately responded and at least 15 terrorists were neutralized,” according the statement....
The YPG is not exclusively ethnic Kurds. There are Arabs and foreign volunteers enlisted. They are part of the Syrian military and have been operating in Northern Syria since their inception in 2004. They claim they are a democratic group and not in step with Assad's ruling party. They took hold and grew during the Syria Civil War.
