In the ever-shifting landscape of the Syrian civil war, the line between allies and enemies is rarely clear.
It was further muddied this week when the U.S.-led coalition revealed plans for a 30,000-strong security force to police Syria’s northeast borders with Turkey and Iraq. The plan instantly enraged Turkey, a NATO ally of the U.S., because it would rely heavily on Kurdish fighters who are viewed as terrorists by the Turks.
“Is the duty of protecting NATO borders left to terror groups? We can protect our own borders,” said Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of betraying an ally and threatened to attack Kurdish “terror nests” along the border.
“Those who stabbed us in the back and appear to be our allies ... cannot prevent it,” said Erdogan, according to an Anadolu report.
The establishment of the force also stands to rankle Syria’s government and its two main allies, Russia and Iran. It could derail a rapprochement between the Kurds and Damascus, who have worked together on occasion as reluctant allies against Islamic State, as well as against rebels trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad.
With the fight against Islamic State winding down, the coalition envisions that the Border Security Force would be stationed eastward, policing the militants’ traditional smuggling route between Iraq and Syria, as well as passageways with Turkey to the north. Those were once used by the group’s foreign fighters to travel to and from its “caliphate.”
In his remarks, as reported by Anadolu, Erdogan said he did not “even think of calling U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss Syria,” adding that “as he long as he does not turn to me, I do not turn to him.”
Read more: Turkey says U.S. 'stabbed us in the back' by aligning with Kurds on Syrian border - LA Times
It was further muddied this week when the U.S.-led coalition revealed plans for a 30,000-strong security force to police Syria’s northeast borders with Turkey and Iraq. The plan instantly enraged Turkey, a NATO ally of the U.S., because it would rely heavily on Kurdish fighters who are viewed as terrorists by the Turks.
“Is the duty of protecting NATO borders left to terror groups? We can protect our own borders,” said Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of betraying an ally and threatened to attack Kurdish “terror nests” along the border.
“Those who stabbed us in the back and appear to be our allies ... cannot prevent it,” said Erdogan, according to an Anadolu report.
The establishment of the force also stands to rankle Syria’s government and its two main allies, Russia and Iran. It could derail a rapprochement between the Kurds and Damascus, who have worked together on occasion as reluctant allies against Islamic State, as well as against rebels trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad.
With the fight against Islamic State winding down, the coalition envisions that the Border Security Force would be stationed eastward, policing the militants’ traditional smuggling route between Iraq and Syria, as well as passageways with Turkey to the north. Those were once used by the group’s foreign fighters to travel to and from its “caliphate.”
In his remarks, as reported by Anadolu, Erdogan said he did not “even think of calling U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss Syria,” adding that “as he long as he does not turn to me, I do not turn to him.”
Read more: Turkey says U.S. 'stabbed us in the back' by aligning with Kurds on Syrian border - LA Times
