'It’s like two kids in a lot': Donald Trump says Turkey’s attack on Kurds like playground fight

David Gardner18 October 2019

Donald Trump has defended his handling of the Syrian crisis by comparing Turkey’s attacks on the Kurds to a fight in a school playground.

“Sometimes you have to let them fight a little while,” the President told supporters at a rally in Dallas, Texas. “It’s like two kids in a lot, you got to let them fight and then you pull them apart.” Mr Trump was taking credit for the ceasefire hammered out

earlier yesterday in Ankara during talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US vicepresident Mike Pence.

A five-day “pause” was agreed to allow Kurdish forces to move out of Turkey’s designated “safe zone” — land along the Syrian side of the border where Mr Erdoğan wants to relocate about two million refugees who have crossed into his country.

Turkey-Syria Conflict - In pictures

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In return, Mr Trump agreed to drop economic sanctions the US imposed on Turkey earlier this week. He claimed the ceasefire was reached “without spilling a drop of American blood” and added: “Turkey’s going to be happy. The Kurds are going to be happy. Isis is going to be unhappy’”.

The President told the rally he had decided it was time for peace after the Turks and Kurds “fought for a few days... it’s not fun having bullets going all over the place, and we went there and we said we want a pause.

President Erdoğan was a gentleman, he understood, but without a little tough love they would’ve never made this deal”.

Both Republicans and Democrats have lambasted the President for pulling US troops out of northern Syria, allowing Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish forces which until recently had fought Islamic State alongside Americans. Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi called the truce a “sham ceasefire”.

At the rally Mr Trump continued his attacks on Democrats who have launched an impeachment inquiry against him, calling House of Representatives Speaker Mrs Pelosi “crazy.”

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