Why Turkey’s assault on the Syrian Kurds is a gift to IS

Turkey has been bombing northeast Syria and the SDF – America’s indispensable allies in the fight against the Islamic State – since November, and it appears that Ankara is massing more troops on the Syrian border, threatening a cross-border ground operation. 

Expert David Phillips joins Thanos Davelis to look at whether a Turkish ground operation in Syria is on the horizon, why Turkey’s aggression against the Syrian Kurds is a gift to the Islamic State, and break down what steps the United States should take to make it clear to Ankara that it stands with its Kurdish partners and that this aggression is unacceptable. 

David Phillips is the director of the Program on Human Rights and Peacebuilding at Columbia University. He has also served as a senior adviser and foreign affairs expert at the State Department during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations.