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Grisham said following a call between President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is to take custody of foreign fighters captured in the US-led campaign against ISIL, who have been held by Kurdish forces supported by the US.
"The United States will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer," the statement said.
France, Germany, and other European nations have refused US requests to take back nationals who fought for ISIL
Hah, so the price for Washington to turn a blind eye is for Turkey to take all the thousands of French/British/German jihadists that France/Britain/Germany refuses to take back, nor pay for their on-going internment in Syria, nor sending any personels to guard those prisons?
Will be very interesting to see how European countries spin this new development. My guess is they probably gonna continue pondering out loud what might happen to the Kurds after U.S forces withdraws from Syria after ISIS forces have been defeated, as Trump promised to the voters up to the 2016 election, rather than highlighting the fact that they are not doing shit to help the Kurds besides whining.
Here's a reminder of the pleading by the Kurds from over half a year ago to Europe that fell on deaf ears:
Don't abandon us, Syrian Kurds tell Europe
18/02/2019
Khalil said the Kurds might need to seek protection from Assad unless their Western allies stepped up
A top Kurdish official has called on Europe not to abandon Syrian Kurds once the battle against the Islamic State group is over and to help set up an international force to protect them from Turkey.
European powers "have a political and moral responsibility" to the Kurds, Aldar Khalil told AFP in a interview in Paris, warning that the Kurds would seek the protection of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if failed by Europe and the US.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been leading the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria for the past four years, backed up by air strikes from a US-led coalition of powers.
With IS's self-declared caliphate now in ruins, the Kurds fear being left at the mercy of Turkey after the US declares mission accomplished in the final battle for the jihadists' last holdout.
Turkey considers the SDF to be a terror group and is threatening to invade the area under Kurdish control.
Khalil appealed to Europe for protection.
"If they (Europe) don't meet their commitments they are effectively abandoning us," Khalil said late on Sunday, calling on France particularly to work at the United Nations for the creation of a buffer zone along the border with Turkey.
"France can table a proposal to the Security Council on our protection, suggesting an international force between us and the Turks -- of which it would be part -- or to protect our airspace," Khalil said.
The senior political representative, who played a key role in establishing Syria's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, said that it could be modelled on the UN peacekeeping force deployed along Lebanon's border with Israel.
- Fly regime flag -
Khalil explained that the Kurds might need to seek protection from Assad unless their Western allies stepped up -- and he spelled out the terms of a possible deal.
"We will be obliged to agree a deal with the (Syrian) regime so that it deploys its troops along the border and protects us," Khalil explained.
He said that the Kurds would insist on maintaining autonomy and demand that the border troops be Kurdish.
"They would come under the orders of the Syrian army, but be our units," he said.
In return, they would offer to give the government a cut of the Kurdish region's oil revenues.
"We can also agree to raise the regime's flag," he added.
Eight years into the conflict that has killed more than 360,000 people, Assad controls nearly two-thirds of the country and is anxious to win back more territory.
On Sunday, he warned the Kurds that the US would not protect them against Turkey.
"No one will protect you except your state," he said.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.france24.com/en/20190218-dont-abandon-us-syrian-kurds-tell-europe
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