Posted on 10/19/2014 2:53:25 PM PDT by jazusamo
(CNSNews.com) – Turkey’s president on Sunday rejected U.S. proposals to arm Syrian Kurds fighting against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) near the Turkish border, shortly after the White House said he and President Obama had pledged to “strengthen cooperation” against the jihadists.
“It would be wrong for the United States, with whom we are friends and allies in NATO, to talk openly and to expect us to say ‘yes’ to such a support to a terrorist organization,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
His comments were the latest sign that Turkey and the U.S. are far from being in lockstep when it comes to the conflict, despite administration officials’ attempts to play down differences.
The main Syrian Kurdish group defending the strategic border town of Kobani against an ISIS assault is the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a secularist organization that was outlawed and suppressed by the Assad regime for years before the civil war broke out.
Turkey is hostile towards the PYD because it has links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group that waged a bloody separatist struggle in south-eastern Turkey for three decades until it entered a peace process with Ankara last year.
For weeks Turkey has watched the fighting, refusing to intervene or to allow Kurds to cross the border to help the town’s defenders in their fight against ISIS.
Last Friday, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed that a U.S. official had several days earlier held a first direct meeting with a PYD representative. Although the PKK is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, Harf said its links to the PYD would not deter the U.S. from meeting with the Syrian Kurdish group.
She also said the U.S. was not now arming the PYD, but declined to “rule anything in or out” in that regard.
“The PYD is for us equal to the PKK,” Turkey’s Anadolu state news agency quoted Erdogan as saying on Sunday. “It is a terror organization.”
“It would be wrong for the United States, with whom we are friends and allies in NATO, to talk openly and to expect us to say ‘yes’ to such a support to a terrorist organization,” he added. “It cannot expect such a thing from us and we cannot say ‘yes’ to such a thing either.”
Those remarks were reported shortly after the White House said in a brief statement that Obama had phoned Erdogan “to discuss Syria, particularly the situation in Kobani, and steps that could be taken to counter ISIL advances.”
“The two leaders pledged to continue to work closely together to strengthen cooperation against ISIL,” it said.
As part of its air offensive against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria, the U.S. and partners are carrying out airstrikes against ISIS positions around Kobani, but despite the battle’s ebb and flow over recent weeks the fighting there is continuing, and was reportedly especially fierce on Sunday.
Almost 200,000 Syrian Kurds have fled the fighting and entered Turkey, where about 1.5 million Syrian refugees are sheltering.
Although Turkey and the PYD share a common foe in Syrian President Bashar Assad, as the complex civil war has dragged on Turkey has worried that Syrian Kurds’ success in carving out of an autonomous zone straddling the Turkish border would boost separatism among its own large Kurdish minority.
Because of the PYD’s links to the PKK, Erdogan seems content for now to watch the PYD and ISIS battle each other since that weakens Syrian Kurdish autonomy. Earlier this month he said that as far as Turkey was concerned, the PKK and ISIS were “the same.”
Although Turkey recently agreed to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels who are fighting against both the Assad regime and ISIS, it has refused so far to allow the U.S. to use its military facilities to launch air attacks against the jihadists.
Erdogan has stated repeatedly that the Assad regime must be the primary target. He also wants a no-fly zone to be enforced to protect rebels against regime aircraft, and calls for the establishment of a safe haven on the Syrian side of the border to shelter civilians fleeing the fighting.
Neither the no-fly zone nor the safe haven are on Washington’s agenda, and U.S. officials maintain that although Assad must eventually go as part of a political settlement – rather than a military campaign – the current priority is the fight against ISIS.
Despite these differences, administration officials have repeatedly underlined areas of agreement with Turkey, describing it as a committed and “ very valued member ” of the anti-ISIS coalition.
Early this month Vice-President Joe Biden during a public appearance said Turkey had acknowledged having erred in allowing foreign fighters to pour across its border into Syria to join the jihad there. Erdogan fumed, and Biden phoned to apologize.
Cold Turkey for Thanksgiving
It’s long past time that Turkey was bombed into a parking lot!!
Those muslim bastards have never been on our side, they have just used us!
Kemalist Turkey was a reliable ally, up until they chose to sit out Desert Storm. Only since then have they begun to slide into the Islamic sewer. And as Erdogan betrays his predecessors, now they are only allies on paper.
~I spent some time at Incirlik. I was never under the impression that the Turks were even friends, let alone allies. I thought the worst part of being in Turkey, was dealing with Turks. ~
As far as 20 years ago I mentioned that everywhere in Turkey when they fly multiple foreign flags (near hotels, restaurants, on excursion boats) American flag is always upside down.
They may have had stretches where our interests aligned, but long-term an alliance with Turkey was doomed to failure.
Turkey has always been muslim.
The only good muslim is a dead one!!!
I heard a rumor that Ataturk was a Greek. I know it was part of the Ottoman Empire, but that must stick in the craw of many Turks. If I hated being in Turkey, because I did not like Muzzies, I don’t think I would have survived Saudi Arabia, if I would’ve ever had the misfortune of being there.
Lol
Turkey should be kicked out of NATO. Mission, objectives & members of NATO should be re-evaluated. Erdogan is quite the stubborn islamist mule with Ottoman Empire ambitions. He constantly works to add fuel to fire.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.