Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu renewed calls today for Washington to sever ties with the Syrian Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the top ally of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, and to provide air support to Turkish forces fighting to dislodge the jihadists from the Syrian town of al-Bab.
US reticence, Cavusoglu charged, was leading the Turkish people to ask, “Why are you letting these people [the Americans] remain in Incirlik?” Defense Minister Fikri Isik echoed his comments, remarking, “The absence of coalition assistance for the al-Bab operation makes one question [their use of] the Incirlik Air Base.”
Turkish forces and their rebel proxies have been struggling to capture al-Bab for more than a month, but IS fighters have put up fierce resistance. As a result, Turkish casualties are mounting.
Ankara is likely brandishing the Incirlik card because it is worried that President Barack Obama will sign a bill authorizing the Pentagon to train and equip the SDF before leaving office Jan. 20. The Kurdish and Arab SDF is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), and Turkey insists that the YPG is no different from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Thus, arming the YPG, Ankara argues, is the same as arming the PKK. Some US officials privately concur.
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