Although Türkiye is one of the closest allies of the United States, especially in NATO, relations remain somewhat strained over a set of issues. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, the most vocal member of the Turkish government when it comes to criticizing Washington, was candid again in a fervent speech early Sunday.
“The AK Party, these cadres, are behind a revolution that began 21 years ago,” he told an event in Istanbul with a staff of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for sahur, the last predawn meal before the start of the daily fast.
“Had it not been for this revolution, history would repeat itself,” he said. “Remember that in the past, the governments would lose their balance even when a U.S. ambassador said something reprimanding them. This is not the case anymore. Let alone the ambassador, nobody cares about what the U.S. president has to say about Türkiye. The AK Party brought Türkiye to this point,” the minister said.
The minister stated that this is what bothered foreign powers opposing the AK Party governments. He said they used proxies in Türkiye to hinder the country’s progress. “They tried it repeatedly, they tried it, for instance, with April 27 memorandum,” he said, referring to the stern memorandum of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against the AK Party in 2007 that is now seen as the first veiled attempt to topple the AK Party governments.
In 2016, the government faced an all-out coup attempt but it survived both; first, through the firm opposition of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and through a strong public resistance after a call by Erdoğan, now president, to the public to reclaim democracy. Soylu also cited the Gezi Park riots that increased the interest rates in Türkiye and the opposition of “proxies” of foreign powers against the construction of Istanbul Airport, “a major aviation hub that overshadowed Europe’s role in that field.”
In November 2022, Soylu said Türkiye will not accept the condolences issued by the United States over a terrorist attack that claimed six lives on Istanbul's Istiklal Street. His remarks followed statements by Turkish officials hitting out at those who support terrorist groups, including the PKK and its Syrian wing the YPG, the culprit in the Istanbul attack. Ankara in the past has accused the U.S. of supplying weapons and training to the terrorist group in northern Syria.
Soylu repeated his criticism of the United States over the latter’s support of the YPG/PKK. Answering the calls of an opposition party to withdraw Turkish forces from neighboring Syria and Iraq, Soylu said a terrorist state would replace them if they withdrew. Turkish security forces often conduct counterterrorism operations in the northern parts of those two countries where the terrorist group holds clout and hideouts.
“(Terrorists) want to establish a state stretching from Iraq to Syria, under the leadership of the United States. Yes, the United States has troops next to terrorists there. They patrol together, they like each other so much that they mourn together when we neutralized terrorists,” he said. “They have so much faith in each other but it does not matter. You cannot defeat Türkiye,” he added.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization in the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union. Washington’s support for its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, has significantly strained bilateral relations with Ankara. The terrorist group has used bases across Türkiye’s border in northern Iraq and northern Syria to plot and carry out attacks on the country, working to create a terrorist corridor along the borderline, threatening both Syrian locals and nearby Turkish residents.
Since 2016, Ankara has been leading counteroffensives against the terrorist groups and striving to establish a 30-kilometer-deep (19-mile-deep) security line, for which Russia and the U.S. committed to providing support in October 2019. The same month, Türkiye launched its Operation Spring Peace against the PKK/YPG and Daesh in northern Syria, with Washington promising that the PKK/YPG would withdraw from the region. The U.S. military then evacuated all its bases in the area, prioritizing stationing near oil fields.
U.S. forces are currently present in many military bases and posts across a vast region occupied by the terrorists in the Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir el-Zour districts. Washington consistently sends reinforcements to its military units in PKK/YPG-controlled oil fields. At the same time, U.S. troops conduct regular patrols with the PKK/YPG. The continued U.S. support, namely military training and truckloads of equipment, for the terrorist group has been under the pretext of fighting Daesh and has drawn the ire of its NATO ally Türkiye on numerous occasions. Thanks to U.S. help worth millions of dollars, the YPG has grown stronger in northeastern Syria, despite Washington’s promises to Türkiye that it would “consult and work closely” with Ankara against Daesh and the PKK.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan earlier slammed the U.S. for “turning a blind eye” to Türkiye’s concerns over its cooperation with the PKK/YPG despite repeated complaints, saying, “We will pull ourselves by our bootstraps.” Erdoğan has been signaling a ground operation into northern Syria and Iraq for many months now and upped his threat following the Istiklal Street attack. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has expressed "strong opposition” to Erdoğan’s plans of a ground offensive.
Erdoğan and other Turkish officials dismissed any warnings, stressing that Türkiye was “committed to protecting its borders and will not seek anyone’s permission.” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, too, declared Türkiye was “issuing the necessary warnings to allied countries to cut off all ties with terrorist groups as soon as possible.”
Ankara has long emphasized cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism will contribute to regional and global peace and security.
Although their economic ties have been outstanding for decades, Türkiye and the United States have been uneasy partners, especially in the past two decades, when anti-U.S. sentiment grew in Türkiye over the latter’s policies against Türkiye and Muslims in general.
Surveys in recent years show that Turks are more hostile to the United States over the latter's perceived interference in Türkiye's domestic affairs (such as voicing concerns for people arrested on terror charges) and support for the PKK and FETÖ. Ties gradually deteriorated after Türkiye refused to allow the United States to use a key military base in the country’s south during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. But the strain goes deeper than that as the United States insists on not changing its stance on a series of matters to the chagrin of Türkiye. Among them is its support for claims of so-called Armenian “genocide,” open support for the PKK/YPG, hosting Fetullah Gülen – leader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which staged the 2016 coup attempt, and the apparent reluctance to provide key defense equipment to Türkiye, pushing Ankara to aligned closer to Russia then Washington.
