Erdogan slams Trump over Kurds
US move in war on IS criticised
TURKISH president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says US President Donald Trump should reverse his decision to arm Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units, or YPG, in Syria ahead of a planned push to take the Islamic State (IS) capital of Raqqa.
The US decision to arm the Kurdish militia – considered an important American ally in Syria and the most capable ground force available for the Raqqa operation – was announced on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Erdogan said, “I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately.”
That is because, to the Turkish government, the YPG is not an ally, but a terrorist group.
Ankara considers the group to be the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which launched an armed insurgency against the Turkish government in 1984 and has been responsible for violent acts since. Turkey, the EU, and the US all consider the PKK a terrorist group.
“We want to believe that our allies would prefer to be side by side with ourselves rather than with the terror groups,” Erdogan said.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu insisted that “much of the time every weapon they (Kurds) obtain is a threat to Turkey”.
The diplomatic dust-up reflects a reality about US-Turkish relations today.
As excited as Erdogan may have been about the end of the administration of former president Barack Obama and the beginning of the Trump era, the major points of contention remain what they were.
Erdogan blames long-time bogeyman Fetullah Gülen, a Turkish cleric who lives in Pennsylvania, for instigating last summer’s failed coup.
But Gulen still hasn’t been extradited to Turkey, and the US remains determined to use Kurdish forces to attack the Islamic State rather than relying on Arab troops in the Syrian Defense Forces.
Meanwhile, Turkey, which backs the opposition in Syria, worked with Russia and Iran to set up de-escalation zones, a controversial plan about which Defense Secretary James Mattis warned, “the devil is in the details”.
Despite tensions over the Kurds, Trump is still more Erdogan’s cup of tea than his predecessor.
After Turkey held a deeply flawed and internationally criticised referendum this spring to strengthen Erdogan’s political power – a vote the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe described as unfree and unfair – Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him.
Meanwhile, plenty of Turkey watchers described Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Trump’s potential ties to Russia, as being straight out of Erdogan’s playbook.
The Turkish president has jailed thousands and silenced media in the months after the coup attempt.
But personal preferences aside, Turkey views the Kurdish situation as a near-existential threat – meaning the question of lethal aid for the YPG could tear asunder already strained relations between two Nato allies.
Next week, Erdogan will be able to press the point in person, when he meets Trump at the White House.