Statements by the White House and the Turkish Presidential Palace after Wednesday night's telephone conversation between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his American counterpart Donald Trump show that the two leaders agree to disagree on their respective approaches on Syria.
It also shows that President Trump is resigned to the fact that there is nothing the U.S. can do to halt Turkey's current military Operation Olive Branch against the terrorists holed up in the northwestern Syrian region of Afrin, and thus he is saying, "at least do not extend your military incursion into other areas" held by the militants and "jeopardize a confrontation between Turkish and American forces."
While Turkey is telling the U.S. to "severe your ties with the militants of the Democratic Union Party [PYD] and its military wing, the People's Protection Units [YPG], which are both extensions of the PKK terrorist group in Syria, and stop arms flow to these groups" the U.S. seems set to try to anchor itself to Syria through the YPG and PYD militants in defiance of Ankara.
The U.S. position in Syria is too weak. It does not have any reliable allies in Syria besides the militants that are not so interested in fighting Daesh terrorists than expanding their territory across northern Syria and creating an autonomous zone that could eventually transform into a mini-state.
Besides this, the U.S. needs Turkey's cooperation to operate out of İncirlik Air Base to carry out its operations in Syria.
Last but not least, Daesh has been defeated, and only small pockets of resistance remain that can be handled with token forces and thus the so-called massive threat is no longer there that calls for the American presence. Thus, American troops can pack up and go home.
In the long run, the American position in Syria is an unsustainable situation that is unfortunately bound to hurt Turkish-American ties probably beyond repair.
President Erdoğan has said Turkey will extend its military operation to Manbij, a separate YPG held enclave that the U.S. promised to Ankara that the militants would vacate but did not. Either the U.S. will pull its forces out of this enclave or they will end up confronting the Turkish forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that has been helping Turkey in the north of Syria.
According to the White House statement, which was denied by Turkish official sources, Trump told Erdoğan that Turkey should not escalate the offensive beyond the Afrin region and avoid civilian casualties. What civilian casualties? Turkish forces are taking maximum risks to avoid civilian casualties at times jeopardizing their own safety not to harm ordinary Syrian citizens. Isn't it a bit hypocritical for Americans to talk about civilian casualties when they have committed so many mini massacres in Raqqa because the YPG militants directed them to attack alleged Daesh positions that in fact were simple civilian settlements?
No one wants a complete breakdown of ties between Ankara and Washington, but as things stand the American government does not seem to understand the severity of the situation, and President Trump is still being misguided by certain circles in Washington.
Turkey and the U.S. should work behind the scenes to put an end to the current mess from now until the end of the Afrin operation when Turkey turns its attention to Manbij and even east of the Euphrates where the PKK and its affiliates still operate. The fire opened on the Turkish city of Nusaybin by PKK militants from the Kamishli township in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border on Wednesday should be an eye opener for the Americans that the PKK/YPG secessionist terrorists do not mean well and remain a threat to Turkish security. This is unacceptable!
