ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey is urgent america to rethink its help for Kurdish militants in Syria, in response to feedback by its leaders together with President Tayyip Erdogan, who has once more floated the opportunity of a brand new cross-border offensive.
“We’re always reminding our American counterparts that they should cease the cooperation they’ve with the terrorist organisation in Syria,” Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan was quoted on Monday (NASDAQ:) as telling the Milliyet newspaper.
“Our contacts on this concern have elevated. We see that the U.S. aspect is eager on extra talks and negotiations too,” he added.
On Sunday, Erdogan mentioned Turkey may mount a brand new offensive into northern Syria to create new secure zones alongside its border, after saying on Friday that he would talk about a potential U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria with President-elect Donald Trump.
Strains in U.S.-Turkey ties embody U.S. help for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, Washington’s major ally in opposition to Islamic State in Syria. Ankara calls it a terrorist organisation and extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Employees Occasion (PKK), which america additionally deems a terror group.
NATO member Turkey has carried out a number of cross-border operations in opposition to the YPG in recent times and has since threatened extra.
Erdogan mentioned on Sunday these strikes established secure zones in Syria that had “thwarted makes an attempt to encompass” it from the southern borders, and Turkey was decided to “fully lower off contact between terrorist organisations.”
“God keen, we are going to full the lacking hyperlinks of the secure zone now we have established alongside our borders in coming interval,” he mentioned.
In latest months Erdogan has additionally made overtures to restore severed ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s authorities after a decade of animosity.
Ankara has complained that Damascus has not reciprocated its makes an attempt at rapprochement, after Erdogan mentioned in July he needed to ask Assad for talks. Assad mentioned these makes an attempt have yielded no outcomes and Damascus desires Turkish troops to withdraw from Syrian territories.
