New tensions between Ankara and Washington as Trump issues economic threats against Turkey

Tabnak – Amid all the ambiguities regarding the announced US withdrawal from Syria, the provisioned move has already started to affect US-Turkey ties. Washington’s frequent warnings to Ankara about the Syrian Kurds, have sparked strong reaction among the Turkish officials.

The latest sign of tensions in US-Turkey ties on the Kurdish issue appeared on Sunday, when US President Donald Trump threatened to “devastate Turkey economically” if it attacks US backed Kurdish militants in Syria after US withdrawal.

"Starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. Will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms," the president said on Twitter Sunday. He further warned that he "will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds," adding in a second tweet, "Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey."

In response, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey will not be intimidated by US Trump's threat. "We have said repeatedly we are not scared of and will not be intimidated by any threats," Cavusoglu said Monday, adding: "Economic threats against Turkey will get nowhere."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is known for his tough stand on policy matters, has yet to comment on the issue but his spokesman Ibrahim Kalin vowed the fight against Kurdish forces will continue.

Kalin likened the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) to Daesh (ISIS), saying there was "no difference" between them. "We will continue to fight against them all," he said in a post on Twitter.

Last week, Erdoğan himself publicly lashed out at US national security adviser John Bolton. “It is not possible for us to accept and stomach the message Bolton gave from Israel,” he said.

“Regarding this matter, Bolton has made a serious mistake and whoever thinks like this has also made a mistake. It is not possible for us to make compromises on this point. Those who are part of the terror corridor in Syria will receive the necessary lesson. There is no single difference between the PKK, YPG, PYD and Daesh,” Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party at the parliament in the Turkish capital, Ankara, last Tuesday.

Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed PKK, which has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984. The YPG forms the backbone of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an anti-Damascus alliance of predominantly Kurdish militants supported by the United States.