President Donald Trump has told Turkey’s president that the United States will cut off its supply of arms to Kurdish fighters in Syria.
The decision is sure to please Turkey, but further alienate Syrian Kurds who bore much of the fight against the Islamic State group.
Word of the change in policy came in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Early Friday morning, Trump took to his Twitter page to announce his plans.
‘Will be speaking to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey this morning about bringing peace to the mess that I inherited in the Middle East,’ Trump said.
President Donald Trump speaks to members of the U.S. Coast Guard at the Lake Worth Inlet Station Thursday in Riviera Beach, Fla. Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday morning
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks with people after Friday at his presidential palace in Ankara Friday. The Turkish leader discussed the Syrian crisis and other regional issues with Trump
‘I will get it all done, but what a mistake, in lives and dollars (6 trillion), to be there in the first place!’
A Turkish official announced Trump said he’d ‘given clear instructions’ that the Kurds will receive no more weapons.
The White House confirmed the move in a cryptic statement about the phone call.
In the conversation, Trump informed Turkey of ‘pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria.’
Trump boasted about diplomacy as he spoke to the Turkish leader and announced U.S. will drop support for Kurds
The move could help ease strained tensions between the U.S. and Turkey.
In a previous statement, the White House said Trump told Erdogan the United States is making ‘adjustments’ to its military support for partners in Syria.
It’s was a reference to the U.S. halting the supply of arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Erdogan speaks during Russian-Turkish-Iranian talks at Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, November,22,2017. Trump told Erdogan the United States is making ‘adjustments’ to its military support for partners in Syria
The White House said the decision comes as the Syria conflict moves into a ‘stabilization phase’ of ensuring the Islamic State group can’t return.
That phase follows the recent fall of the extremist group’s self-declared capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa.
The Trump administration moved earlier this year to arm the Kurds to help them liberate Raqqa. That move incensed Erdogan’s government.
The White House said Trump and Erdogan also discussed the political process for ending the Syrian civil war and Turkish purchases of U.S. military equipment.