Turkey Is Lying About Fighting ISIS

Source:Foreign Policy Date:30Dec2018

The turnaround in U.S.-Turkey relations has been stunning in its speed and tone. The analysts, bureaucrats, and diplomats in Washington who have argued that the United States must save the strategic partnership with Turkey must be relieved. Yet even in this rapprochement, the differences between the two countries are clear. Trump wants to bring his troops home because he believes it is best for the United States not to be tied down in a foreign land with no clear objectives. Fair enough.

Erdogan wants American troops to go home not so he can do America’s final bidding in Syria, but so that he can pursue Turkish interests there. The blood of more Syrians, Kurds, and Turks will be shed as a result. There are some good arguments for getting out of Syria, but handing Turkey everything it wants from the United States in the process is not good for anyone.