Trump once stopped Erdogan attacks on US-backed Kurds in Syria has opportunity to do again, says Jack Keane

JERUSALEM – President-elect Trump could be the key factor in stopping the reported Turkish destruction of the pro-U.S. Syrian Kurdish community, Fox News senior strategic analyst and retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane told Fox News’ Mark Levin on “Life, Liberty & Levin” on Saturday.

“Erdoğan is a real problem here. He has a corridor in northern Syria. He backed the radical leader who took over, al-Golani, in deposing Assad because he’s been wanting Assad to go like we all did for years, but now what is he doing? Now he’s attacking the Syrian Kurds, who we support, in eastern Syria.”

Keane said, “Biden is not going to do anything about it, but President Trump has a huge opportunity, and I know for a fact that President Trump dealt with Erdoğan once before over the same issue. And it stopped as a result of a phone conversation that he had with President Erdoğan.”

FALL OF SYRIA’S BASHAR ASSAD IS STRATEGIC BLOW TO IRAN AND RUSSIA, EXPERTS SAY

Keane said one of Trump’s first telephone conversations once in office will probably be with Erdoğan, “if he hasn’t started talking to him already.” 

He said the motivation of the Syrian Kurds in eastern Syria is not to seize Turkish territory but to ensure ISIS remains defeated and make sure “they do not rise again,” adding that the U.S. “doesn’t need to get involved in any consequential way in Syria other than to protect our own interests and make certain that ISIS doesn’t rise again in eastern Syria which they have the potential to do.”

While world leaders are largely focused on the collapse of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s regime, Turkey’s strongman ruler Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has mobilized forces loyal to his government to eradicate Kurdish combatants on his southern border to Syria that helped the U.S. defeat the terrorist movement ISIS. 

President Trump meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House, Nov. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Alarm bells are ringing about the dire plight of the Syrian Kurds. 

“Turkey has become too aggressive. If they get a free rein in Syria, they may covertly commit an ethnic cleansing,” warned Efrat Aviv, a professor in the Department of General History at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and a leading expert on Turkey, in a statement to Fox News Digital.

In an apparent effort to modify his jihadi movement, Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the U.S.-designated terrorist movement, Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which played a decisive role in toppling Assad’s regime, said, “The Kurds are part of the nation and have suffered great injustices, just as we have. With the regime’s fall, the injustice they faced may also be lifted.”

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY 

U.S. forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF in Syria, Aug. 18, 2023. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was until recently known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Golani, is allied with Turkey. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. had made “direct contact” with HTS despite it being an outlawed terrorist entity.

Mazloum Abdi, the head of the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on Saturday urged Kurdish parties in northeast Syria (Rojava) to generate a unified front.

“Today, Kurdish national unity in Syria has become a historic necessity in response to the challenges of this critical phase. We call on all Kurdish parties to set aside partisan interests and genuinely engage with public calls for dialogue and unity,” Abdi wrote on X.

Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., posted on X, “In the past I have drafted sanctions targeting Turkey if they engage in military operations against the Kurdish forces who helped President Trump destroy ISIS. I stand ready to do this again in a bipartisan way.

“We should not allow the Kurdish forces – who helped us destroy ISIS on President Trump’s watch – to be threatened by Turkey or the radical Islamists who have taken over Syria.”

The Dutch Parliament also intervened last week to protect the Syrian Kurds, urging its government to advocate for a cessation of Turkish attacks on Kurds. 

President Biden and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talk during the G-7 summit on June 14, 2024, in Fasano, Italy. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) announced on Sunday in response to the ongoing attacks by pro-Turkey forces, “We are facing significant threats and dangers, and we call on the Global Coalition and the entire world to unite with us to protect Kobani.”

“The world now owes Kobani and its fighters, and it is time to stand with Kobani,” the statement continued, “calling on the Global Coalition and freedom-loving individuals to unite and safeguard the region’s dignity and humanity.”

TURKEY’S INVASION THREATS SHOULD BE TAKEN ‘VERY SERIOUSLY’: CYPRUS OFFICIAL

Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan on Dec. 13, 2024, in Ankara. (Getty Images)

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who was the former head of the country’s formidable intelligence service, MIT, said on Sunday in Jordan about his country’s view of the Kurdish political and military organizations, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and The People’s Defense Units (YPG): “We are under threat from Iraq and Syria. Over the past decade, the PKK has sought to exploit the chaos in Syria, attempting to restructure itself within the SDF organization. We continue to combat PKK/YPG terrorism, targeting them wherever they are.”

He added, “Our aim is to distinguish the Syrian Kurds from the terrorist organization PKK/YPG. We support the legitimate representatives of Syrian Kurds in their efforts to advocate for their rights in Damascus.”

The YPG is the main U.S.-allied force that contributed to the defeat of ISIS. The U.S. classified the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization. The YPG falls under the rubric of the Syrian Kurdish organization, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF.)

Turkey’s government has intensified its rhetoric against the Kurds. Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said on Sunday  “Our primary agenda is the dissolution of the PKK/YPG.”

Displaced Kurds leave the refugee camp in the north of Aleppo, fleeing to Afrin, on Dec. 4, 2024. (Ugur Yildirim/DIA Images/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)

Incoming freshman Rep. Abraham Hamadeh, R-Ariz., whose parents are Syrian immigrants, told Fox News Digital, “As we evaluate Turkey’s recent airstrikes on Syrian Kurds and reports of Hamas operatives in Turkey, it’s clear that our alliances must be anchored in mutual respect and shared goals. For decades, Turkey has been a strategic partner, but hosting groups like Hamas without clear steps toward dismantling their operations undermines that relationship. Turkey must seize this opportunity to demonstrate it is committed to fighting terror, not enabling it.”

When asked by Fox News Digital if the U.S. was contemplating sanctioning Turkey, a State Department spokesperson said, “As a general matter, we do not preview sanctions.”

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The State Department referred Fox News Digital on Friday to comments made earlier on Friday after Blinken’s meeting with Fidan in Turkey. 

The statement said, in part, “Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS mission in Syria.”