{"id":57427,"date":"2018-01-25T06:50:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T06:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=57427"},"modified":"2018-01-25T06:50:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-25T06:50:09","slug":"trump-warns-erdogan-to-avoid-clash-between-u-s-turkish-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/trump-warns-erdogan-to-avoid-clash-between-u-s-turkish-forces.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump warns Erdogan to avoid clash between U.S., Turkish forces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump warns Erdogan to avoid clash between U.S., Turkish forces<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Turkey on Wednesday to curtail its military operation in Syria and warned it not to bring U.S. and Turkish forces into conflict, but a Turkish source said a White House readout did not accurately reflect the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s air and ground operation in Syria\u2019s Afrin region, now in its fifth day, targets U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG fighters, which Ankara sees as allies of Kurdish insurgents who have fought in southeastern Turkey for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would extend the operation to Manbij, a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, possibly putting U.S. forces there at risk and threatening U.S. plans to stabilize a swath of Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking with Erdogan by telephone, Trump became the latest U.S. official to try to rein in the offensive and to pointedly flag the risk of the two allies\u2019 forces coming into conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe urged Turkey to deescalate, limit its military actions, and avoid civilian casualties,\u201d a White House statement said. \u201cHe urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States has around 2,000 troops in Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, a Turkish source said the White House statement did not accurately reflect the content of their phone call.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump did not share any \u2018concerns about escalating violence\u2019 with regard to the ongoing military operation in Afrin,\u201d the source said, referring to one comment in the White House summary of their conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe two leaders\u2019 discussion of Operation Olive Branch was limited to an exchange of views,\u201d the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump said in response to Erdogan\u2019s call on the United States to end the delivery of weapons to the YPG that the United States no longer supplied the group with weapons and pledged not to resume the weapons delivery in the future, the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The offensive has opened a new front in Syria\u2019s multi-sided, seven-year-old civil war and complicated U.S. efforts in Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States hopes to use the YPG\u2019s control of the area to give it the diplomatic muscle it needs to revive U.N.-led talks in Geneva on a deal that would end Syria\u2019s civil war and eventually lead to the ouster of President Bashar Assad.<\/span><\/p>\n

DIVERGING INTERESTS<\/span>
\nThe United States and Turkey, while themselves allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have diverging interests in Syria, with Washington focused on defeating the Islamic State militant group and Ankara keen to prevent Syria\u2019s Kurds from gaining autonomy and fueling Kurdish insurgents on its soil.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the short-term, analysts say, the United States has little pressure it can apply on Turkey given the U.S. military\u2019s heavy dependence on a Turkish base to carry out air strikes in Syria against Islamic State.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its sway is further limited by the United States not having reliable military partners in Syria other than the Kurds, said Gonul Tol, director of the Center for Turkish Studies at Washington\u2019s Middle East Institute think tank.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. needs Turkey not to spoil things … until now, Washington has walked a very fine line between working with the Kurdish militia and also preventing a complete breakdown in relations with Ankara,\u201d Tol said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump values his relationship with Erdogan, but conceded that the United States has limited leverage and that the Trump administration was unlikely to commit more troops or covert operators to Syria, even if Turkey made a move from Afrin to Manbij.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. has effectively said you can do this operation against Afrin because it is outside my area, but please keep it limited,\u201d said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Washington-based think tank CSIS. \u201cSo it has not felt the need to go beyond the rhetorical means that it has employed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Erdogan has looked to bolster ties with Russia and Iran in recent years, in part because of frustration with Washington\u2019s support for the YPG in the fight against Islamic State.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ankara sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgent group, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, the EU and Turkey.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a clear sign of rapprochement, Ankara is buying an S-400 missile defense system from Russia – unnerving NATO officials, who are already wary of Moscow\u2019s military presence in the Middle East. The S-400 is incompatible with NATO\u2019s systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, analysts say those moves are largely tactical and ultimately Turkey will be open to listening to U.S. concerns about its military operation, given that Ankara needs the European Union for trade and NATO partners for its security.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think behind closed doors, he really would not want a complete break in Turkey\u2019s relations with the West,\u201d Tol said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Max Hoffman, with the Center for American Progress, said the United States still had considerable leverage and could look at imposing sanctions on Turkey in the future, should Turkish forces disregard warnings on Manbij.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trump-syria\/trump-warns-erdogan-to-avoid-clash-between-u-s-turkish-forces-idUSKBN1FD2VW<\/span><\/p>\n

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