Turkey tests waters before next operation in Syria
Ankara will face numerous political and security risks if it moves too hastily in its pursuit of the YPG in Syria.
Almost everyone agrees that President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria was an unexpected but warmly welcomed New Year’s gift to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This decision effectively pulls the carpet from under the People's Protection Units (YPG) and its political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), in northern Syria, depriving them of the backing of a major power.
Ankara says both groups are terrorist organizations linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and considers them to be a threat to its national security.
Turkey has been demanding that the United States severs its ties with these groups, but the expectation that this would happen was never high.
