Congressman Kim Statement on
Turkish Military Attacks on Kurdish Forces

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) released the following statement in response to Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria. The attacks came days after President Trump announced a withdraw of U.S. troops from the region.

“Turkey’s attacks on a long-standing U.S. ally in the war against ISIS are unacceptable. The loss of life and instability these attacks will bring is a direct result of a misguided and dangerous policy decision by this Administration. Our Kurdish allies have announced that these attacks will force them to abandon guarding 11,000 battle-hardened ISIS fighters under custody in order to protect their own forces. These attacks risk ISIS fighters escaping and posing a direct threat to Americans. This is a crisis of our own making, and this decision must be reversed immediately for the sake of regional stability and our own national security.”

Congressman Kim is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, where he serves the Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Readiness and as a Member of the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities. Prior to serving in Congress, Congressman Kim served in Afghanistan as Strategic Advisor to Generals David Petraeus and John Allen. Kim went on to serve as Director of Iraq in Obama’s National Security Council where he coordinated the crisis response to countering the rise of ISIS.