8 November 2020 - 19:13

James Jeffery says American policy on Syria would not change

<p style="text-align: left;">U.S. Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey told several European and Arab officials and Syrian opposition figures that his mission was coming to an end and that the United States&rsquo; policy on Syria would not change if Joe Biden won the presidency, Britain-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Saturday.

Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential elections on Sunday, November 8.

“I see no change in our troop presence, I see no change in our sanctions policy, I see no change in our demand that Iran leave Syria, be it with a Biden administration or Trump one,” he said, according to the daily.

Jeffrey will be replaced by Special Envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn, who has attended most of outgoing diplomat’s meetings ever since his appointment in mid-2018, Asharq Al-Awsat said.

The transition is “a sign that the (U.S.) policy continues at this stage pending the formation of the new (White House) administration”, it cited unnamed European officials as saying.

Former US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of American forces from Syria having declared the Islamic State (ISIS) defeated in October 2019. American troops had been fighting alongside Syrian Kurdish militias against the militant group. Soon after Trump’s announcement, Turkey launched a military campaign into northern Syria to secure its southern border from Kurdish armed groups it considers are threats to Turkish national security.

Former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said in his book published this year that Jeffrey and his team were not among the U.S. officials who tried to stop Trump’s decision to withdraw. State Secretary Mike Pompeo had said Jeffrey, who was previously an ambassador to Turkey, “had no love” for the Syrian Kurds, according to Bolton.

In an interview with Syria Direct on Monday, Jeffrey called for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to leave Syria.

“We want to see the PKK cadre leave Syria,” he said.

“That is a major reason why there is tension with Turkey in the northeast, we want to reduce that tension because in all other areas other than the northeast, we have very close coordination with Turkey on the Syrian situation.”

The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been fighting an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades.

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