US President-elect Donald Trump says “nobody knows” what the future holds for post-Assad Syria, but he expects that Türkiye will “hold the key” to the nation.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, the president-elect was reluctant when asked if he would withdraw American troops from northeastern Syria. Instead of providing a direct answer, he praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wits.
"I can say that Assad was a butcher, here, what he did to children,” he added, referring to ousted regime president Bashar al Assad.
He hailed Türkiye as “a major force” and hailed his personal relationship with Erdogan.
“Erdogan is somebody I got along with great,” Trump told reporters, adding that Ankara has “built a very strong, powerful army.”
Expressing that Türkiye “is going to hold the key to” post-Assad Syria, Trump said: “Actually, I don't think you've heard that from anybody else, but I've been pretty good at predicting.”
US support for PKK/YPG
Numerous foreign policy analysts and commentators have said Türkiye emerged with a stronger hand from the recent events in Syria, where the US has long partnered with the PKK-led SDF for its so-called fight against Daesh.
The partnership has seen objections from Türkiye. YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organisation, leads the SDF. Washington's support for the group has greatly exacerbated tensions in bilateral relations between the NATO allies.
Since Assad’s fall, clashes have been ongoing between the YPG and the Syrian National Army.
PKK is a designated terrorist group in the US and Türkiye.
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