Local residents applaud as a convoy of Turkish forces trucks transporting tanks is driven in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, at the border with Syria. Photo / AP
Local residents applaud as a convoy of Turkish forces trucks transporting tanks is driven in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, at the border with Syria. Photo / AP
A commander for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces told a senior US diplomat that the US was leaving them to be "slaughtered" as Turkey continues targeting America's allies in Syria.
General Mazloum Kobani Abdi directed his fury towards Deputy Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, WIlliam Roebuck, in a Thursday meeting.
"You have given up on us. You are leaving us to be slaughtered," he said, according to CNN.
Local residents look on as a convoy of Turkish forces' trucks transporting tanks is driven on a road towards the border with Syria in Sanliurfa province. Photo / AP
He continued: "You are not willing to protect the people, but you do not want another force to come and protect us. You have sold us. This is immoral."
The Kurdish leader demanded that the US either help stop the Turkish attacks or allow for them to create an alliance with the Assad regime in Damascus.
The alliance would bring in Russian warplanes to enforce a no-fly zone over northeast Syria, which would hinder Turkey's ability to perform air strikes.
American officials are not fans of the Russian alliance, however
"I need to know if you are capable of protecting my people, of stopping these bombs falling on us or not. I need to know, because if you're not, I need to make a deal with Russia and the regime now and invite their planes to protect this region," Mazloum continued.
President Donald Trump ordered a withdrawal of virtually all US forces from northern Syria.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed the move on said Sunday, after days of assurances from the Pentagon that the United States was not "abandoning" its partners in the campaign against the Islamic State.
Widespread bipartisan criticism was thrown at the decision, saying Trump had endangered stability in the Middle East and risked the lives of Syrian Kurdish allies who helped the US bring down the Islamic State group in Syria.
Turkey, however, regards those Kurdish fighters as a terrorist threat and has launched a military operation against them.
Trump said the US cannot fight "endless wars."
"We have to bring our great heroes, our great soldiers, we have to bring them home. It's time. It's time," Trump said in a lengthy and wide-ranging address to the Values Voter Summit, an annual gathering of social conservative activists.
President Donald Trump speaks at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. Photo / AP
He portrayed the Middle East as a hopeless cause, despite years of American military involvement and financial investment.
"It's less safe now. It's less secure, less stable and they fight," he said. "That's what they do. They fight."
Trump announced that he had directed US$78 million in emergency aid for Syria to support Christians and other religious minorities there.
Before the speech, Trump was joined on stage by Andrew Brunson, an American pastor who was released by Turkey in October 2018 after nearly two years of confinement. The case had roiled relations with Turkey and prompted an outcry from US evangelical groups.
