NBC News reporter Richard Engel warned that Turkey is planning a long-term genocidal campaign against the Kurds, who believe President Trump gave the plan a “green light” by pulling troops from northern Syria.
“The Kurds are deeply concerned that this isn’t just a campaign by Turkey against the Kurds because the Turks don’t like the Kurds and they’re punishing them somehow,” Engel said Friday on MSNBC. “The Turks believe that this is going to be a long-term campaign, and they want to settle this area. So, the Kurds that we’ve been talking to say they are soon going to face a campaign of genocide, a campaign of ethnic cleansing that President Trump gave the green light to.”
Engel called the Syria withdrawal a “stain on history” and a “terrible betrayal” of an American ally.
Trump announced Sunday that the United States would be pulling troops from northern Syria. The area is occupied by the Kurds, who are American allies. Turkey announced Wednesday they would be invading the region, and eyewitness reports said bombings had started the day before.
On Friday, a Pentagon official said that Turkey had bombed an area near U.S. Special Forces and that the Turkish government knows all the locations of U.S. troops in the area.
The Department of Defense sent a letter demanding the Turkish government avoid military actions that could result in a U.S. “defensive action.”
