All eyes on Pompeo as CIA chief arrives in Ankara
Though Turkish hopes for a closer US alliance are soaring as CIA Director Mike Pompeo meets with top Ankara officials, it's unlikely that the US administration will agree to weaken its ties to the Kurdish groups it depends on badly in Syria.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo arrived in Turkey today for a working visit hailed in the Turkish media as a new page in the country’s acrimonious relations with the United States.
“He’s coming for Raqqa,” declared pro-government Star, referring to the US-led coalition’s plans to liberate the Syrian city the Islamic State calls its capital. “He’s coming for the Free Syria Army [FSA],” opined Yeni Safak, another pro-government newspaper. Hurriyet claimed Pompeo’s first trip to a foreign country after being named CIA director was decided during a Feb. 7 phone call between US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The exuberant tone of the press reflects Turkey’s hopes that Trump will respond positively to its demands to dump the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as its premier partner in the fight against IS in Syria and to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Turkish imam who is seen as the mastermind of the failed July 15 coup.
Those issues were expected to come up during Pompeo’s talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, who alongside presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin remains among Washington’s top interlocutors in Ankara. Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Umit Yalcin is due to arrive in Washington next week to follow up on all of them in meetings with top US officials including national security adviser Mike Flynn.
