The Briefing Room - Turkey, Syria and the Kurds

Donald Trump’s recent announcement that he was withdrawing the remaining US troops in northern Syria sent shockwaves across the security establishment, and caught allies in the region off guard.

Turkey moved swiftly to launch an offensive against Kurdish forces across the border. What does President Erdogan want to achieve? And where does this leave the political map of the region and the fight against the Islamic State group?

David Aaronovitch speaks to guests about the phone call that started it off and what could happen next.

GUESTS

Eric Schmitt - senior writer covering terrorism and national security issues for The New York Times and co-author of Counterstrike
Dr Amanda Sloat - senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs at the State Department
Charles Lister - senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of The Syrian Jihad: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency
Lina Khatib - Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House
Seth Frantzman - Middle East affairs analyst for the Jerusalem Post and the author of After Isis: America, Iran and the struggle for the Middle East (September 2019).

Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Jasper Corbett

Published on Thursday, 17th October 2019.

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