Can the Islamic State be defeated without Kurds?
Turkey insists Rojava's People's Protection Units must be excluded from the fight against the Islamic State on the Menbic-Jarablus front.
The United States is trying to devise a plan that will appease Turkey while still allowing Kurds to help expel the Islamic State (IS) from the Menbic-Jarablus front in Syria. Turkey's resistance to the Kurds' participation is creating discord with the United States and further exposing Ankara's hostility toward the people of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).
Ankara insists on an operational plan that excludes Rojava's People's Protection Units (YPG). The United States might come up with a plan that will take Turkey’s sensitivities into account by making the YPG less visible, but the group will still play a key role in the fight.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised this issue last week in his Washington talks with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.
According to information supplied to Tolga Tanis, Washington correspondent for Turkey's Hurriyet daily newspaper, Turkey has two conditions for a Menbic operation:
