US promises Turkey role in Raqqa in surprise Ankara meeting
The United States has reached out to Turkey, which is fuming over US support for Kurdish-led forces in Syria, by sending its chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to meet with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara and discuss Raqqa.
US efforts to appease Turkey over its collaboration with Syrian Kurdish-led forces to take Raqqa, the self-declared capital of the Islamic State, appeared to have yielded some progress over the weekend following an unannounced visit by Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Ankara.
Following 4½ hours of talks with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, Dunford said, “The coalition and Turkey will work together on the long-term plan for seizing, holding and governing Raqqa.” The US general, who characterized Turkish-American ties as “excellent” further asserted, "We always knew the SDF wasn’t the solution for holding and governing Raqqa. What we are working on right now is to find the right mix of forces for the operation.”
Dunford was referring to the Syrian Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which remain the United States’ premier ally against IS in Syria. On Nov. 6, the SDF announced that it had launched an operation to retake Raqqa.
But the SDF’s activities will focus on isolating the city, a process that could take months.
