President Donald Trump on Monday said that in response to Turkey’s incursion into Syria he will soon issue an executive order authorizing sanctions against current and former Turkish officials, stop negotiations with Turkey on a $100 billion trade deal, and boost tariffs on Turkish steel to 50 percent.
In a statement in which he vowed to swiftly destroy the Turkish economy if it continues down “this dangerous and destructive path,” Trump also said that US troops coming out of Syria will redeploy and remain in the region to monitor the situation.
Trump’s statement mentions that the executive order authorizing sanctions on Turkey could bar Turkish officials from entering the United States. But Trump has already invited the Turkish president to the White House next month, as a CNN reporter noted.
Trump added in his statement that a “small footprint” of US troops would remain in southern Syria to “continue to disrupt remnants of ISIS.” A number of national security experts have warned that the group could regain strength if the Kurds are forced to abandon ISIS prisons in Syria, which has reportedly already started.
The announcement comes amid bipartisan criticism of Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from the region.
On Wednesday, Turkey launched its military operation to flush Kurds allied with the US out of northeastern Syria. Trump apparently gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the go-ahead on Sunday October 6 to proceed with his long-planned move against Kurdish fighters who make up part of the Syrian Defense Forces and who lost thousands of men fighting with the US against ISIS.
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