US-Backed 'Freedom Fighters' Become Terrorists When Turkey Cares About Them
Daily Sabah reports that Türkiye has offered Syria assistance against 'US-backed terrorists.' This latest headline conveniently omits a rather glaring detail: for years, US policy has routinely armed and supported various Syrian factions, including the YPG, which Ankara designates as a terrorist organization. The US has poured billions into 'anti-ISIS' forces in Syria, often overlooking or
downplaying their links to groups Türkiye views as existential threats. (One might recall the Obama administration's failed 'train and equip' programs which notoriously saw US-backed groups turn over weapons or defect). So, the 'terrorists' Türkiye is now offering to fight alongside Syria are, in essence, the very groups the US has funded, armed, and provided air cover for to achieve its own
strategic aims in the region. How quickly allegiances shift in the ever-unfolding tragedy of US foreign policy, where 'freedom fighters' become 'terrorists' and 'terrorists' become 'partners' based on the prevailing political breeze. What a stunning revelation that inconvenient truths only surface when regional powers find common ground, however fleeting, against their larger patrons.