HADERA, Israel — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday claimed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was behind the speedy fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria final week, as Israeli officers cautioned the US to maintain a watchful eye on the Sunni authoritarian chief.
Talking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump declared that the “very smart” Erdogan directed the rebel that led to the overthrow of Syria’s brutal Assad regime on Dec. 8, noting that the rebel was “another way to fight.”
”No person is aware of who the opposite aspect is, however I do. You realize it’s Turkey, OK? Turkey is the one behind it,” he stated. “And those people that went in are controlled by Turkey, and that’s OK.”
Requested whether or not Trump would take away the 900 American troops at present in Syria when he takes workplace subsequent month, the president-elect reminded journalists that “nobody knows what the final outcome is going to be in the region.”
”I don’t assume that I wish to have our troopers killed, however I don’t assume that can occur now anyway, as a result of the one [Assad regime] aspect has been decimated,” Trump stated.
“I think Turkey is very smart. [Erdogan] is a very smart guy, he’s very tough,” Trump stated, “but Turkey did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost.”
Whereas the overthrow of the Assad regime was usually welcomed by the Western world, Israeli officers on Monday warned the US in opposition to celebrating the presumed ascension of Turkish energy in Syria.
Israel’s army is at present combating to remove weapons depots in southern Syria to stabilize the area and defend its residents close to its border with the Islamic nation, analysts have stated.
“Erdogan is a disciple of the Muslim Brotherhood. He is an Islamist radical in Turkey. He is behind Syria’s rebels that came from al Qaeda, from Daesh, from other very radical groups,” Israeli scholar and former Knesset member Ruth Wasserman Lande instructed The Publish in Israel on Monday.
Nonetheless, Turkey is a member of the NATO safety alliance, which may imply the US and different allies may maintain some affect over the nation.
“Turkey, with Erdogan at the helm, is supportive of Hamas and supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, which are the same thing,” she stated. “And now the entire Syrian gang is going to be governed by rebels who also are supported by Turkey and support Hamas.”
Wasserman Lande added that the excellence “is an important connection to make,” particularly because the incoming Trump administration intends to help Israel in its combat in opposition to terror teams within the area.
”These will not be disconnected arenas, and america must put an enormous vigilant watch on Erdogan, notably as a result of he’s a member of NATO,” she additionally stated.
