Trump: I discussed fighting ISIS and a safe zone with Erdogan

On Monday, January 14, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, stated that in his phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, they discussed the fight against the Islamic State group, ISIS, and the establishment of a 20-mile safe zone. Trump wrote on his Twitter account: 'I spoke with President Erdogan of Turkey to discuss my positions on various issues, including the successes of the last two weeks in fighting the remnants of ISIS and recommendations for creating a 20-mile safe zone.' The U.S. President further stated: 'We also talked about developing economic relations between the U.S., which has a lot of potential for expansion.' Meanwhile, Trump had previously warned in a tweet that if Turkey attacks the Kurdish militants allied with the Washington-led coalition, the Turkish economy would be 'devastated.' However, the U.S. President did not specify how the Turkish economy would be 'devastated.' According to Reuters, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, in Saudi Arabia, responded to reporters' questions about what Trump meant by 'devastating the economy' of Turkey, saying: 'You should ask the President himself.' Pompeo added: 'We have imposed sanctions on many people so far; my assumption is that he meant actions of this kind.' Turkey's reaction to Trump's warning about attacking the Kurds: 'We are not afraid of threats.' Late December, Trump announced his decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. U.S. forces were deployed to Syria in 2015 to combat ISIS and, with the help of the People's Protection Units (YPG), consisting of the Syrian Democratic Forces, managed to drive Islamist fighters out of large areas of northern Syria. The status of the Kurdish militants, 'People's Protection Units' in northern Syria, is a contentious issue between Turkey and the U.S. Ankara considers the U.S.-backed Kurdish militants as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a terrorist group. In this context, Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesperson for the Turkish President, wrote on Twitter in response to Donald Trump: 'There is no difference between ISIS, PKK, PYD, and YPG. We will continue our fight against all of them.' Meanwhile, the Turkish Presidential Office announced that Erdogan and Trump discussed the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria where no militia would be present. The Turkish Presidential Office did not provide further details about this safe zone. Meanwhile, Mike Pompeo stated that the establishment of a safe zone is to ensure the safety of those fighting ISIS and to prevent attacks from Syria into Turkey.