Donald Trump says that Türkiye was behind the Islamist groups that overthrew Assad in Syria

Open the White House Watch newsletter for free

Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world

Donald Trump said Monday he believes Türkiye is behind the rebel group that ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, claiming Ankara has launched an “unfriendly takeover” of its neighbour.

turkey’The US President-elect said in a press conference in Florida that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a “very smart and strong man” and made Ankara the most important foreign actor in Syria since the fall of Assad.

“They wanted it for thousands of years, and they got it. These people who entered are under Türkiye’s control.” Trump He said. Türkiye carried out an unfriendly takeover without losing many lives.”

The president-elect’s comments came as the United States carried out air strikes against ISIS fighters in Syria, and just days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Washington was in contact with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist group that led the blitz on Damascus. Earlier this month, forcing Assad to flee the country.

Foreign policy analysts said Trump – who will replace Joe Biden as US president next month – was sending a message to Erdogan, with whom he has a turbulent relationship.

“Trump has issued a warning of sorts to Syria’s new rulers and their patrons: ‘Judge carefully, because we are watching,’” said Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank.

Türkiye’s relations with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham were complex. It did not support the group directly, but it supported others who coordinated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in its lightning attack.

“I think Türkiye will have the key to Syria,” Trump said.

A foreign policy expert said Trump’s comments about Erdogan reflected the US president-elect’s tendency to keep world leaders on their toes.

John Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said Erdogan may have thought Trump would be an “ace in the hole.” But the Turkish leader “won’t be sure exactly where he sits” after Trump’s comments, giving the next US leader leverage.

Trump and Erdogan combined personal camaraderie and geopolitical friction during the US leader’s first term as president. Tensions rose over Türkiye’s purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, which ended with Türkiye being excluded from the US F-35 fighter jet programme. Ankara’s detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson in 2016 prompted Trump to blacklist Erdogan’s advisers and threaten punitive economic sanctions.

Bronson’s release thawed relations between the two leaders. Türkiye later benefited from Trump’s 2019 decision to withdraw US forces from northern Syria, leaving Kurdish forces vulnerable to Turkish military action.

Relations between Washington and Ankara have improved recently, according to Turkish officials and Western diplomats, despite some… tension This sparked Erdogan’s criticism of Israel for its attack on Gaza.

Turkey also eventually supported Sweden’s entry into NATO earlier this year, after which Washington approved Ankara’s purchase of US F-16 fighter jets. US officials also praised Türkiye’s role in the prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia this year, and in Ankara’s war against terrorist groups, including ISIS.

However, Türkiye has strongly backed away from Washington’s support for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group that Ankara views as indistinguishable from the separatists who fought the Turkish state.

Washington sees the Syrian Democratic Forces as an important partner in preventing ISIS from significantly reshaping itself in Syria in light of the political vacuum that followed the fall of Assad.

The United States has been carrying out air strikes in Syria against ISIS, including on Monday when US Central Command said the strikes killed 12 fighters operating in areas controlled by the former regime and Russia.

Additional reporting by Andrew England in London and Adam Sampson in New York