I hadn't even realized sanctions had been imposed when they came off, but President Trump lifted sanctions on Turkey that followed its invasion of northern Syria.
The invasion followed the American abandonment of the Syrian Kurds, lead by the YPK, which we've been following. Following that, the Turks have aligned with the Russians which are now jointly patrolling an occupied zone of northern Syria, also occupied by Syrian Islamist militias which have been executing Kurdish prisoners and releasing some ISIL affiliated ones.
The sanctions, a type of strike back that rarely works, were supposed to address Turkish excesses in Syria and were proclaimed now unnecessary in light of a supposed cease fire worked out by the United States. It's hard to see what deal we actually reached as the Turks achieved their goal and moved oddly closer to Russia in the mix, something they're likely to regret. Overall, the long term results are likely to be unhappy for everyone, including the United States which comes out of the entire affair looking simply awful. It's worst of all for the Kurds and what little democratic forces there are in Syria.
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