Trump says he hopes YPG abandons fighting Turkey

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 12 he hoped the YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the illegal PKK, would “back up” fighting the Turkish military in northeastern Syria.

“I hope they do, because it is very hard to beat a force with that planes they don’t, where they have weapons that Kurds don’t have,” Trump said in a speech to the Value Voters Summit in Washington, an annual conference of religious conservatives.

Turkey on Oct. 9 launched “Operation Peace Spring” to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

As well, Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrians in a 30-km deep proposed safe zone in Syria stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, including Manbij.

‘It’s time’

“Kurds are tending to leave” the planned zone and “that’s good. Let them have their borders,” said the U.S. president.

In defending his decision to pull U.S. forces from the operation area in the northern Syria, Trump said: “I don’t think our soldiers should be there for the next 50 years.”

“We have to bring our great heroes, our great soldiers, we have to bring them home. It’s time. It’s time,” Trump said.