While Democrats as well as many Republicans have attacked President Trump for his unilateral decision to remove US troops from the Syrian border with Turkey, prompting and incursion by Turkish troops into areas of Syria controlled by Kurdish forces, some say that Turkey would have invaded regardless.
Fox News anchor, Brit Hume said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have ordered an incursion into Syria whether or not President Trump kept a small contingent of American forces there or not. Security in the region was held together by a “delicate arrangement” of sorts, propped up by the U.S. troops stationed there, Hume said on a recent broadcast of his Special Report.
“It’s pretty clear that what happened here was that we had this sort of delicate arrangement on that border, enforced by the presence of a small number of U.S. troops,” he said.
Hume said the situation maintained relative peace for several months, but that any negotiations against military action are “out the window” now.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence said President Trump has called Erdogan to demand he halt the country’s incursion into Syria and enact an immediate ceasefire.
“President Trump communicated to him very clearly that the United States of America wants Turkey to stop the invasion, implement an immediate ceasefire and to begin to negotiate with Kurdish forces in Syria to bring an end to the violence,” Pence told reporters at the White House, on Monday, 10/14.
Pence also revealed that he’ll soon be heading to Turkey in a bid to jumpstart negotiations to end Turkey’s offensive, which began last Wednesday after Trump removed US troops from northern Syria, making way for Turkish forces.
News of Trump’s phone call comes after the president vowed to slap sanctions on Turkey and “immediately stop negotiations” with the country over what he called a $100 billion trade deal.
“Turkey’s military offensive is endangering civilians and threatens peace, security and stability in the region,” Trump said in an earlier statement he posted on Twitter.
“I have been perfectly clear with [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan: Turkey’s action is precipitating a humanitarian crisis and setting conditions for possible war crimes.”
Pence said the sanctions announced Monday were only the beginning “unless Turkey is willing to embrace a ceasefire, come to the negotiating table and end the violence.”