WASHINGTON, D.C. – This afternoon, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto to discuss the Turkish attacks on the Syrian Kurds. Earlier today, Senator Blackburn joined a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues in introducing sanctions against Turkey.

“We want…to see Turkey stop the fighting and we want to see the Kurds protected,” said Senator Blackburn. “The SDF has been very active in helping us to corral and to capture and to hold and to remove ISIS from this area.”

To watch the segment, click below or HERE.

BACKGROUND

Earlier today, Senators Blackburn, Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced the Countering Turkish Aggression Act. If enacted, these sanctions would remain in place until the Administration certifies to Congress that Turkish forces have withdrawn from all locations in the Syrian Kurdish community that they did not occupy prior to the October 9, 2019 invasion.

The largest Kurdish diaspora in the United States is in Nashville, Tennessee. The Syrian Democratic Forces have made significant sacrifices and contributions to the liberation of areas controlled by ISIS and the defeat of the so-called physical caliphate, losing nearly 11,000 brave fighters along the way. On January 31, 2019, Senators Blackburn and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) requested that President Trump “develop and implement a strategy to help protect the security and diplomatic equities of our Kurdish partners serving in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during and after the withdrawal of United States military forces from Syria.” The full letter may be found here.

Senator Blackburn included a provision in the Senate-passed 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to support the U.S. partnership with the Kurds in Syria.