‘Unfriendly takeover’: Trump says Turkey is behind collapse of Assad government in Syria

US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday said Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was behind an “unfriendly takeover” of Syria, referring to the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad government earlier this month. 

“He’s a very smart guy and he’s very tough. But Turkey did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost. I can say Assad was a butcher, what he did to children,” Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, adding that he didn’t know what the outcome of Assad’s collapse would be. 

“One of the sides has been essentially wiped out. Nobody knows who the other side is. But I do. You know who it is? Turkey. Okay? Turkey is the one behind it. He’s [Erdogan] a very smart guy. They’ve wanted it for thousands of years, and he got it.”

Trump went on to say that “those people who went in and got it” – referring to the rebel offensive led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that culminated in December – are controlled by Turkey. 

“And that’s okay, that’s another way to fight,” he added. 

Trump said he got along well with Erdogan and credited him for creating a “major military force” that had not yet been worn out with war. 

“I mean, he’s built a very strong, powerful army,” he said.

The US and Turkey, despite being Nato allies, have for years been at loggerheads during Syria’s civil war.

Trump has opposed a US military presence in Syria and in 2018 ordered the withdrawal of 2,000-2500 US troops from the country during his first tenure as president. On Monday he said that the remaining 900 US troops in Syria were no longer a danger because “the other side had been decimated”. 

The US presence in Syria was primarily focused on the Syrian Democratic Forces and has been a sore point in its relationship with Turkey, which views the SDF as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK has waged a decades-long guerrilla war in southern Turkey and is labelled a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union. 

The US worked with and trained the SDF to prevent the Islamic State group (IS) from establishing a foothold in Syria.

Turkey’s concerns about the PKK led it to launch an invasion of Syria in 2016, with the aim of depriving Kurdish fighters of a quasi-state along its border. Two more military forays followed in 2018 and 2019. The SDF did not play a role in the recent rebel offensive and received little support from the US as they suffered territorial losses to Turkey-backed rebels. 

During his news conference Trump said that he honoured the US’ so-called “red line” against chemical weapons use in Syria by firing missiles at the country, and accused former President Barack Obama of not honouring the commitment he had made. 

Trump reissues Hamas threat 

Trump also mentioned that he had a “really good conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said the situation in the Middle East would be easier to deal with than the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Asked by a reporter what he meant by his earlier comment that Hamas would have “hell to pay” if they don’t return the hostages, Trump said: “Well, they’re going to have determine what that means. It won’t be pleasant.”

Earlier this month, the US president-elect warned Hamas of massive repercussions if hostages in Gaza are not released by the time he takes office in January.

“If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”

About 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza during the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.

Trump’s comment came after Hamas released a video of 20-year-old Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who was captured while serving in the Israeli military. Alexander pleaded tearfully to Netanyahu to cut a deal for the hostages’ release. 

Middle East Eye reported Monday that a “new dynamic” had emerged in the talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza, with a senior Palestinian source telling MEE that both sides are closer than ever to reaching a deal.

The source, who is informed on the latest round of indirect talks, told MEE that a number of factors had led to the breakthrough, adding that last month’s ceasefire in Lebanon provided a blueprint for a similar ceasefire in Gaza.

“The Israeli operation did not achieve its goals [in Lebanon] and they opted for a ceasefire,” the Palestinian source said, adding that the Israeli government was now looking to do the same in Gaza.

The source’s comments came as several Israeli media outlets reported that a ceasefire deal could be completed as early as Hanukkah, which coincides this year with 25 December.