House GOP preparing to level new sanctions against Turkey
House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney says the U.S. needs to maintain its presence in Syria and work closely with the Kurds.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said on Monday that President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeast Syria will have global ramifications, arguing that Turkey may have acted due to the president's weakened political standing at home.
"What the Democrats are doing themselves to try to weaken this president is part of this. It was not an accident that the Turks chose this moment to roll across the border. The Democrats have got to pay very careful attention to the damage they're doing with the impeachment proceedings," the chair of the House Republican Conference told “Fox & Friends.”
Trump said Sunday there is widespread support in Washington to impose new sanctions against Turkey over its swift incursion into northern Syria.
Specific details about the sanctions were unclear but Trump said on Twitter, "Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is a great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!"
TURKEY ANNOUNCES NORTHERN SYRIA INVASION OF GROUND FORCES; MULTIPLE CIVILIANS REPORTED DEAD
Reuters, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that the measures were being “worked out at all levels of the government for rollout.”
TRUMP SEES ‘CONSENSUS’ ON IMPOSING NEW SANCTIONS ON TURKEY
Last week, Trump vowed to obliterate Ankara’s economy if Turkey did anything in Syria that he considered "off limits."
Over the past five days, Turkish troops and their allies have pushed their way into northern Syria towns and villages, clashing with the Kurdish fighters over a stretch of 125 miles. The offensive has displaced at least 130,000 people.
On Sunday, at least nine people, including five civilians, were killed in Turkish airstrikes on a convoy in the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Kurdish officials.
“The Kurds obviously have been a tremendous ally for us. If we abandon them in this way, it’ll be very difficult to establish alliances in the future and we need those to avoid having to deploy massive numbers of U.S. forces on the ground,” said Cheney.
“We cannot have a situation where ISIS is resurgent. That’s the bottom line."
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Trump was criticized by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for his initial decision, but was praised Sunday night for working with Congress “to impose crippling sanctions against Turkeys (sic) outrageous aggression/war crimes in Syria.”
Fox News’ Melissa Leon and Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
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