Tillerson tries to patch up US relationship with Turkish allies
Ankara minister is optimistic US will drop Kurd support
BEIRUT // US secretary of state Rex Tillerson travelled to Ankara yesterday to try to patch up the Nato allies’ shaky relationship and discuss the war against ISIL.
Turkey is regarded by the US as crucial to the fight against ISIL, but relations between the two were damaged by US support for the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria.
Then there was Washington’s refusal to arrest and extradite Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric blamed by Ankara for a failed coup attempt last July.
Yesterday, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu seemed optimistic that the US would take steps to improve relations by withdrawing support for the YPG and extraditing Mr Gulen.
“We are expecting a better cooperation,” said Mr Cavusoglu, alongside Mr Tillerson.
“It is not correct to fight against one terrorist group while cooper- ating with the other.” He said the US had admitted there was no difference between the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU.
YPG forces have been the most effective US ally fighting in Syria, but the Turkish government considers it an arm of the PKK, with whom is at war at home.
Despite Mr Cavusoglu’s optimism, however, there have been no signs yet that the US under president Donald Trump intends to ditch the YPG as the battle for ISIL’s capital of Raqqa looms.
If anything, the US has appeared to rely even more on the militants, sending 400 marines and army rangers to YPG-held territory in Syria this month.
The US is considering sending more troops, while the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces are still believed to have a role in the assault on Raqqa.
Mr Tillerson dodged questions about support for the YPG, saying instead that he and the Turkish officials had “an exchange of views on the best way forward” in Syria.
He said the talks were very helpful to both parties and acknowledged that there were “difficult decisions” to be made in the fight against ISIL. While the Trump administration’s policy on Syria’s war between rebels and president Bashar Al Assad has been vague so far, Mr Tillerson said yesterday that the fate of Mr Al Assad would “be decided by the Syrian people”.
Under former US president Barack Obama, Washington’s line was that Mr Al Assad must be removed from power.
Mr Tillerson’s visit came a day after Turkey declared the “successful” completion of its Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria.
The operation, which began last August, involved Turkish troops backing Syrian rebel proxies fighting to dislodge ISIL and YPG forces from its border with Syria. Although Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim said the operation was complete, he did not say whether Turkish forces were withdrawing from Syria, and left the door open to more military action.
“Life is back to normal,” Mr Yildirim said. “Everything is under control. Euphrates Shield has ended. If there is a need, a new operation will have a new name.”
It seems unlikely Turkey will withdraw its troops at this point. Ankara still wants to take part in the offensive to retake Raqqa, although it has insisted the YPG be excluded from such a mission.
Withdrawing troops would leave Turkey’s rebel proxies on the ground more open to attack from the YPG and possibly from Syrian government forces.
The Turkish presence in Syria has added to the complexity of the war against ISIL and seen two crucial US allies, Turkey and the YPG, fighting each other.
Turkey’s Incirlik airbase is used by US forces bombing ISIL, and without the YPG, Washington would have no powerful local ally on the ground in Syria.