{"id":36050,"date":"2019-10-28T23:06:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T23:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/28\/turkey-will-attack-kurdish-fighters-who-remain-near-border-with-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:18:13","slug":"turkey-will-attack-kurdish-fighters-who-remain-near-border-with-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/28\/turkey-will-attack-kurdish-fighters-who-remain-near-border-with-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey will attack Kurdish fighters who remain near border with Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 Turkey\u2019s foreign minister said Monday that his country\u2019s military will attack any Syrian Kurdish fighter that remains along the border area in northeast Syria after a deadline for them to leave expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that Russian and Syrian officials provided information that some Kurdish fighters had pulled out of the border area, but others still had not. The Kurdish withdrawal is in line with a Russian-Turkish agreement<\/a> reached last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Syrian Kurdish fighters <\/a>have until 3 p.m. GMT Tuesday to pull back to positions about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Turkish border. Turkey and Russia will conduct joint patrols along a border strip once the Kurdish forces leave. Cavusoglu said a Russian military delegation was scheduled to arrive in Turkey to discuss the planned joint patrols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey is to keep sole control of a large section in the center of the border, most of which it captured in its invasion launched Oct. 9. Turkey wanted to drive the U.S.-allied Kurdish forces out of a \u201csafe zone\u201d along the border, after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled American troops from the area<\/a>. Syrian Kurdish forces have turned to Russia and the Syrian government in Damascus for protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. troops were allied with the Kurdish-led fighters for five years in the long and bloody campaign that brought down the Islamic State group in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mevlut
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a joint news conference with Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister Suzi Carla Barbosa, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. (Burhan Ozbilici\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Later Monday, Israel\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations blasted Turkey\u2019s invasion of Syria, accusing Ankara of promoting anti-Semitism and the ethnic cleansing of Kurds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny Danon told the Security Council\u2019s monthly Middle East meeting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan \u201chas been destabilizing the region through violence and supporting terror organizations,\u201d so Turkey\u2019s \u201cshocking\u201d incursion into Syria came as no surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once-warm relations between Israel and Turkey have greatly deteriorated since Erdogan came to power. The Islamist leader is a vocal critic of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, and he has good relations with the territory\u2019s Hamas rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\t