Trump hits Turkey with sanctions over military operation against Kurds in Syria

• President Donald Trump on Monday announced he's hitting Turkey with sanctions over its military incursion into northeast Syria. 
• The military operation, launched last Wednesday, has already displaced over 100,000 people in northern Syria. 
• Turkey's operation targets Kurdish forces who were until recently allied with the US in the fight against ISIS. 

President Donald Trump on Monday announced he's signing an executive order to slap sanctions on Turkey and any persons contributing to the "destabilizing actions in northeast Syria." 

"This Order will enable the United States to impose powerful additional sanctions on those who may be involved in serious human rights abuses, obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning home, forcibly repatriating refugees, or threatening the peace, security, or stability in Syria," Trump said in a statement, which he posted on Twitter. 

This move adds to the already complicated nature of the relationship between Turkey and the US, who are technically allies as members of NATO. 

NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. 

Turkey launched a military operation in northeast Syria last Wednesday, just several days after the Trump administraiton announced it was withdrawing US troops from the area. 

Trump's decision to pull US troops out of that part of Syria has been broadly criticized, as Turkey's military operation primarily targets Kurdish forces who bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS. 

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which lost approximately 11,000 fighters as it served as the tip of the spear in the effort that crushed ISIS's so-called caliphate, described the move as a "stab in the back" by the US.

This article will continue to be updated.