Turkey Begins Offensive Aimed at Kurdish Fighters in Syria
CreditAndrej Cukic/EPA
We ran the numbers: There are 523 news articles covering this topic. 25% (130) are left leaning, 44% (232) center, 31% (161) right leaning.
The fears that President Trump’s removal of U.S. troops in Syria would spur conflict between Turkey and Kurdish forces have come to fruition.
Left-leaning views from a New York Times article detail how Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has molded Trump’s views regarding U.S. presence in Syria. Last December, following a meeting with Erdogan, Trump abruptly announced that American troops would withdraw from Syria. Additionally, the article reports that Trump, in alignment with Turkish comments, blamed President Obama for the country’s purpose of a Russian missile system. But despite the history between the two men, Trump warned on Twitter that he would “totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey” if Erdogan crossed “limits” in Syria.
An article from NPR totes centrist views in its discussion of Turkey’s recent launch of a military operation in Syria as well as the possible motives behind it. Turkey has officially launched an operation in Syria targeting Kurdish forces that the country considers to be “terrorists.” The article suggests one motive for the operation being that, if it’s successful, it will allow for the “return of some 1 to 2 million Syrian refugees” that have entered Turkey in recent years. NPR additionally reports that while Turkey has received international praise for their acceptance of Syrian refugees, the nation is now experiencing internal pressure to send them home.
A right-leaning article from Fox News highlights the criticism Trump is receiving from his fellow Republicans in regards to his actions in Syria. Many notable Republicans did not agree with Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria and interpreted Trump’s decision as an abandonment of the Kurdish troops-- an essential force in the battle against ISIS. LIz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-ranking Republican in the House, tweeted: “Impossible to understand why [President Trump] is leaving America’s allies to be slaughtered and enabling the return of ISIS.”