Syrian Kurdish leader lambasts Trump for praising Turkish ceasefire deal

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A top Syrian Kurdish official has criticized US President Donald Trump on Saturday for praising a US-Turkish ceasefire agreement, suggesting that attacks by Turkish-backed groups in northern Syria continue. 

“Contrary to reality and the ongoing events in the region, especially in northern and eastern Syria, Mr. Donald Trump talks about the success of the agreement on a ceasefire in northern Syria following the Turkish state’s attacks on our people in their safe areas and villages,” said Aldar Xelil, the head of the Diplomatic Relations Office for the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), in a public statement. 

“The fact that this approach is in contradiction of reality and far from the ignored facts, is a denial of responsibility for what has been declared to protect the people of the region from the danger and annihilation of the Turkish state.”

The US brokered a ceasefire agreement with Turkey on Oct. 17. On Friday, Trump told reporters in the White House that the ceasefire in northern Syria has held “very nicely,” Reuters reported. He also said he had a very good relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey and Russia agreed in a separate agreement made last week for the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the border. Turkish and Russian forces started joint patrols on Friday. 

Read More: Syrian Kurds approve of Russian-Turkish patrols if they stop Turkey's attacks

“Let them do the border. We don’t want to do that,” Trump added. “I like the oil, we are keeping the oil and we are working with the Kurds and we are frankly working with Turkey.” 

But the Syrian Kurdish leader disagreed with the US president Trump’s assessment. 

“Turkey’s mercenaries are still continuing their attacks on our areas, civilians are still their target, and the burning and looting of houses is still ongoing - they also strive to empty the area from their inhabitants and to accommodate the families of mercenaries there, which must be followed closely by the sponsors [of the agreement] to stop the hostilities,” Xelil said.

“The ceasefire has become a cover for Erdogan to achieve further progress after the failure to achieve its full objectives through military operations, as well as a cover for the implicit agreement between Trump and Erdogan to distract those within the US opposed to this against this alliance and the agreement,” he concluded.

The Turkish assault drew strong bipartisan criticism in Washington, amid charges that Trump had not done enough to stop the attack, while it would lead to the reemergence of the Islamic State and redound to the benefit of Russia, Syria, and Iran.

On Thursday, a bipartisan bill punishing Turkey for its invasion of northern Syria was passed by the house, which illustrated both parties’ dismay with Trump’s retreat from the region.

.@realDonaldTrump walked away from America’s Kurdish allies in Syria. The Congress will not make the same mistake. pic.twitter.com/pJ9MZPGcTT

— Eliot Engel (@RepEliotEngel) November 2, 2019

“It employs smart sanctions to press Erdogan to halt violence against Syrian Kurdish communities and withdraw from Syria,” Rep. Eliot Engel (R, New York), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a weekly address on Friday.

Editing by John J. Catherine

(Additional reporting by Laurie Mylroie)