1/8/19
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a blunt put-down Tuesday against White House national security advisor John Bolton over his pledges to ensure Turkish nonaggression against Kurds who fought against the Islamic State in Syria. "We cannot accept Bolton's messages given from Israel," the Turkish president said, adding that Bolton made a "serious mistake," Reuters reported. He was referring to statements by the senior Trump administration official, made from Israel over the weekend, promising safety for the U.S.-allied Kurdish militias — who dominate areas in Northern Syria and whom the Turks view as terrorists — in the event of a U.S. military withdrawal. The militias, known as the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), are the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), an offshoot of the designated terrorist group called the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has carried out a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. They're also America's primary partners on the ground in Syria: The Pentagon has been supplying the YPG with weaponry, air support and training to battle IS since 2015, and the militias have suffered thousands of casualties fighting for the U.S.-led coalition.
Erdogan stressed that the YPG and the PYD cannot be representative of Kurds, adding that Bolton "probably doesn't know" who the two groups are. He also described Turkey as facing a "critical juncture" in Syria, with whom it shares a 500-mile border. Ankara has for months threatened a military offensive against the Kurds in northeastern Syria, refusing to view their presence as legitimate. That threat has been made all the more real since President Donald Trump's shock announcement on Dec. 19 to quickly withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, a move met with torrents of criticism from security experts and lawmakers alike. Trump, defending his decision, emphasized the need for other countries to take on the battle against IS in Syria and espoused Turkey's subsequent offer to fill America's shoes. Critics say this will primarily mean Turkish violence against the Kurds. The YPG, widely seen as Washington's most effective local partner in the fight against IS, sees the move as leaving them open to Turkish assault.
