Turkey-Syria border: Trump threatens to 'obliterate' Turkish economy

2019-10-08 15:05:46

President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy Turkey's economy if the country goes "off limits" following his surprise decision to pull US forces out of north-eastern Syria. In a series of angry tweets, Mr Trump defended his move, which could open the way for Turkey to launch an attack on Kurdish fighters across the border. The withdrawal was heavily criticised even by Mr Trump's Republican allies. Kurdish forces were key US allies in defeating Islamic State (IS) in Syria. But Turkey regards the Kurdish militias, which dominate the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as terrorists. The US has some 1,000 troops across Syria, but only about two dozen had been pulled out from the border area, according to a senior state department official.