The whole story around Ankara's offensive in northern Syria has shown that the United States equally disregards both Turkey and the Kurds, with the recent deal on a ceasefire making no change to this attitude, Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to China and a former envoy to the United States, told Sputnik on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2019) The whole story around Ankara's offensive in northern Syria has shown that the United States equally disregards both Turkey and the Kurds, with the recent deal on a ceasefire making no change to this attitude, Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to China and a former envoy to the United States, told Sputnik on Friday.Turkey crossed into Syria on October 9 soon after the United States ordered troop withdrawal from the area and de facto abandoned its Kurdish allies. President Donald Trump has said that the Turkish incursion "has nothing to do with us" and the Kurds are "not angels." He, however, did send a letter to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to press him to "work out a good deal" and stop the offensive. The US president said that he did "not want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy" and advised Erdogan: "Don't be a fool!"
At the talks with the US on Thursday, Ankara agreed to suspend its offensive for five days to facilitate the withdrawal of Syria's Kurdish militia from the 20-mile border area. Vice President Mike Pence has said that the removal of sanctions, imposed by the US over the operation against Kurdish allies, was the only thing offered to Turkey in exchange for the ceasefire in north Syria.
"While the agreement between Erdogan and Pence is not really clear, Trump's letter to Erdogan reveals the scorn the US holds for Turkey in addition to the equally dismissive attitude towards their Kurdish allies. This is a wake-up call for those Syrians who had separatist grand illusions to come back to their senses and reintegrate themselves with their country and their people," Moustapha said.
Kurdish militia, he added, has already "had their worst nightmare come true: another betrayal by the Western powers."
According to the ambassador, the Turkish policies have actually backfired on Ankara itself as its offensive has forced the Kurds to request help from Damascus. The latter has since dispatched its forces to the north, taking control over a number of settlements in Raqqa and Aleppo provinces, earlier held by US forces.
The Turkish president, Moustapha went on, now seems to have "the reckoning he deserves" for his "reckless behavior."
"Erdogan's relations with the Europeans and a large part of the US political institution in disarray; world-wide condemnation of the Turkish invasion of Syrian territories; and now the public humiliation of Erdogan's swallowing his manic pride and accepting a ceasefire after repeated assertions that nothing will make him stop his invasion," he pointed out.
Many countries have expressed concerns that the Turkish incursion against the Kurds might aggravate the humanitarian and security situation and urged Ankara to stop it.
