Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart Donald Trump have spoken over phone on the fate of Kurdish fighters that has triggered a war of words between the two NATO allies.
Erdogan told Trump during Monday’s conversation that he has no problem with the Kurds in Syria and that Ankara is only seeking to fight armed groups in the war-ravaged country which threaten its national security.
The Turkish leader discussed the planned US troop withdrawal from Syria and the establishment of a secure zone in northern Syria free of armed groups, a statement from the Turkish presidency said.
Erdogan has taken a strong exception to the Trump administration’s dictates on Kurdish fighters especially US concerns on the safety of its Kurdish allies, who helped Washington in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement: “The president expressed the desire to work together to address Turkey’s security concerns in northeast Syria while stressing the importance to the United States that Turkey does not mistreat the Kurds and other Syrian Democratic Forces with whom we have fought to defeat ISIS.”
According to the White House, Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford is set to meet with his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler on Tuesday for further consultations.
‘A highly unreliable partner’
The Anadolu news agency reported that Erdogan also said he had no problem with the Kurds and that Turkey was only seeking to root out the remaining remnants of the ISIL, the PKK and its Syrian affiliate the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara considers the US-allied YPG and its political wing – the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) – to be “terrorist groups” with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey.
For weeks it has vowed to carry out military operations against the YPG, and has condemned the US for its military relationship with the Kurdish fighters.
The Trump administration has defended its relationship with the YPG and on Sunday, the US President vowed to “devastate Turkey economically” if it targeted them.
Starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. Will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms. Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds. Create 20 mile safe zone….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2019
….Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey. Russia, Iran and Syria have been the biggest beneficiaries of the long term U.S. policy of destroying ISIS in Syria – natural enemies. We also benefit but it is now time to bring our troops back home. Stop the ENDLESS WARS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2019
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said “we are not scared of and will not be intimidated by any threats”. “Economic threats against Turkey will get nowhere.”
Turkey has said the US administration has been incoherent about the withdrawal process since Trump’s announcement as well as in its approach to different “terrorist groups”.
Yasin Aktay, who advises President Erdogan in his AK Party, said the US has been “a highly unreliable partner” to Ankara.
“The problems and misunderstandings between the US and Turkey are results of the confusion and cacophony between the actors at different levels of the US administration and institutions,” he told Al Jazeera.
‘Don’t mistreat the Kurds’
Anadolu added that the two leaders also discussed the need to complete a roadmap regarding Syria’s border town of Manbij, so as to avoid giving any opportunity to elements seeking to block the planned withdrawal of US forces.
Turkish and US troops began joint patrols in Manbij on November 1 as part of an agreement that focuses on the withdrawal of YPG fighters from the city to stabilise the region.
Last month, Trump said he would withdraw some 2,000 US troops from Syria in a statement that shocked several politicians in Washington as well as Western and Kurdish allies fighting alongside the US.
Trump’s decision to withdraw troops was initially expected to be carried out swiftly, but the timetable became vague in the weeks following his announcement.
France, Britain and local armed groups have also warned that ISIL has not been totally defeated yet.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
