U.S. Rep. French Hill of Arkansas condemned Turkey on Friday for attacking U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria and criticized President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the area.
The Little Rock Republican this week co-sponsored legislation that would sanction Turkey for invading Syria and targeting America's Kurdish allies.
Asked by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette whether Trump has mishandled the situation, Hill said: "I believe he could have handled that significantly better."
The possibility of sanctions will "send a signal to the Erdogan administration in Turkey that we are watching what he is doing in Syria," Hill said of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "And if it goes beyond border security or peacekeeping along the border, he's going to be held accountable for any violations of the rights of the autonomous Kurdish villages or non-Kurdish villages in the northeast of Syria."
Asked whether the Turkish offensive has already gone beyond border security and peacekeeping, Hill said "based on news reporting, it would appear that it has, and that's why I think the timeliness is important, and was why I was proud to be one of the first people to sign on to this."
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also raised the possibility of sanctions against Turkey during an appearance in the White House briefing room, saying Trump would sign an executive order authorizing "powerful sanctions," if necessary.
The Kurdish people do not have their own sovereign state. Millions of them live in northern Syria and Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
Kurds in Iraq helped the U.S. as it battled then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Later, they helped the U.S. fight militants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
But Turkey, a U.S. ally and NATO member, considers some Kurdish organizations terrorist groups. It has long sought to take on Kurdish fighters near its borders.
In December, Trump declared victory and announced that he would be withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.
"Our boys, our young women, our men, they're all coming back, and they're coming back now," he said in a video that was posted online.
After administration officials and allies on Capitol Hill expressed alarm, Trump reconsidered.
On Sunday, Trump spoke with Erdogan. Shortly thereafter, the White House issued a statement announcing that "Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria."
Members of the U.S. armed services "will no longer be in the immediate area," the statement noted.
On Monday, in a tweet, Trump warned Erdogan's government not to go overboard.
"As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!)," he wrote.
The military attacks by Turkey threaten to undermine the progress that has been made, Hill said Friday.
"The Kurd-American-Iraqi coalition that cleared that region of ISIS had returned stability. People were coming back to their villages, people were reopening businesses, schools were being reopened. Churches were rebuilt. They were providing security [over] the ISIS militants that had been captured. They were providing aid and comfort to the refugees in that region. That was working," Hill said. "If you're going to change it, in my view, you should have a public plan that's outlined on who's now performing these roles."
Abrupt moves aren't helpful, Hill said.
"When the United States performs an important strategic role with allies around the world, it's important that we keep our word, and transition in and out of those arrangements in an appropriate way," he said.
Initial reports, Hill said, raise the possibility that "we did not organize our exit in a way that would honor that commitment."
A Section on 10/12/2019