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Donald Trump said on Monday that he believed Turkey was behind the rebel group that overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, claiming that Ankara had carried out an "unfriendly occupation" of its neighbor.
turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "was a smart guy and he's very tough", the US president-elect said at a news conference in Florida, making Ankara the most important foreign actor in Syria since the fall of Assad.
“They wanted it for thousands of years, and he got it. Those who went in are controlled by Turkey. trump said "Turkey made an unfriendly occupation without losing many lives."
The president-elect's comments came as the U.S. launched airstrikes against IS fighters in Syria, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was in contact with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which attacked Damascus. was led by Earlier this month, Assad was forced to flee the country.
Foreign policy analysts said Trump - who will succeed Joe Biden as US president next month - was sending a message to Erdogan, with whom he has enjoyed a tumultuous relationship.
"Trump has issued a kind of warning to Syria's new rulers and their patrons, 'Govern carefully, because we are watching,'" said Jonathan Shanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think-tank. "
Turkey's relationship with HTS has been complicated. It has not supported the group directly but has supported others that coordinate with HTS in its lightning strikes.
"I think Turkey is going to hold the key to Syria," Trump said.
One foreign policy expert said Trump's comments about Erdogan reflected the US president's tendency to keep world leaders on their toes.
Erdogan may have thought Trump would be "someone in the hole," said John Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank. But the Turkish leader "will not be sure where he sits" after Trump's comments, which give the incoming US leader an advantage.
Trump and Erdogan have combined personal camaraderie and geopolitical rivalry during the US leader's first term as president. Tensions escalated over Turkey's purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, which culminated in Turkey's withdrawal from the US F-35 fighter jet program. Ankara's detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson in 2016 prompted Trump to blacklist Erdogan's advisers and threaten punitive economic sanctions.
Brunson's release thawed relations between the leaders. Turkey later capitalized on Trump's 2019 decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, exposing Kurdish forces to Turkish military action.
According to Turkish officials and Western diplomats, relations between Washington and Ankara have improved recently, despite some stress It began with Erdogan's criticism of Israel over the Gaza offensive.
Turkey also finally backed Sweden's joining NATO earlier this year, after Washington approved Ankara's purchase of US F-16 fighter jets. US officials have also praised the prisoner swap between the US and Russia this year and Turkey's role in Ankara's fight against terrorist groups including ISIS.
Turkey, however, has pushed back strongly against Washington's support for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group that Ankara views as separate from separatists fighting the Turkish state.
Washington sees the SDF as an important partner in preventing Isis from significantly regrouping in Syria in the political vacuum following the fall of Assad.
The U.S. has been conducting airstrikes against IS in Syria, including on Monday when U.S. Central Command said strikes killed 12 fighters operating in former regime- and Russian-controlled areas.
Additional reporting by Andrew England in London and Adam Samson in New York