Turkey seems firm about nixing YPG plans in Syria despite US

On Aug. 24, 2016 the Turkish Armed Forces along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) began a cross-border operation into northern Syria, in a bid to clear its borders from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) elements between the country's Azaz and Mare provinces.

The Euphrates Shield Operation was concluded in February, after the capture of ISIL stronghold al-Bab and the full clearance of jihadists from a 2,000-square kilometer area. 

Turkey's success in pushing ISIL off its borders and its cooperation with Russia to provide a ceasefire between the Syrian regime and opposition groups through the Astana talks put the Turkish government in a better position with regard to Syria-related issues. 

Nowadays Turkey, Russia and Iran are in talks on the implementation of what they call "de-conflict zones" in western parts of Syria, aiming to make the ceasefire a lasting one. In the meantime, Turkey has re-calibrated its policy and made it clear that it has given up insisting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go before any solution.

There is no question that the Astana process was based on the idea of al-Assad's continued leadership in Syria by the Russians, and Turkey had to approve this. Acceptance of this was perhaps the only way for Turkey to conduct its military intervention into Syria to keep its borders and citizens secure. 

However, Turkey's cooperation with the United States has followed a rather different and more difficult course. Like the previous Obama administration, U.S. President Donald Trump has opted to favor the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a group that Turkey sees as a terror organization, to its long-standing ally Ankara in the ongoing anti-ISIL Raqqa operation. 

In...

Continue reading on: