Mediaboss Marketing

The United States will cut off its supply of arms to Kurdish fighters in Syria, U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart on Friday, in a move sure to please Turkey but further alienate Syrian Kurds who bore much of the fight against Islamic State.

To really understand the Middle East - subscribe to Haaretz

In a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said he'd "given clear instructions" that the Kurds will receive no more weapons "and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The White House confirmed the move in a cryptic statement about the phone call that said Trump had informed the Turk of "pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria."

The White House called the move "consistent with our previous policy" and noted the recent fall of Raqqa, once Islamic State's self-declared capital but recently liberated by a largely Kurdish force. The Trump administration announced in May it would start arming the Kurds in anticipation of the fight to retake Raqqa.

We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting.

Please try again later.

This email address has already registered for this newsletter.

"We are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return," the White House said, using an acronym for the extremist group.

The move could help ease strained tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, two NATO allies that have been sharply at odds about how best to wage the fight against Islamic State. Turkey considers the Kurdish Syrian fighters, known by the initials YPG, to be terrorists because of their affiliation to outlawed Kurdish rebels that have waged a three decade-long insurgency in Turkey. Yet the U.S. chose to partner with the YPG in Syria anyway, arguing that the battle-hardened Kurds were the most effective fighting force available.

Cavusoglu, who said he was in the room with Erdogan during Trump's call, quoted the U.S. president as saying he had given instructions to U.S. generals and to national security adviser H.R. McMaster that "no weapons would be issued."

"Of course, we were very happy with this," Cavusoglu said.

Yet for the Kurds, it was the latest demoralizing blow to their hopes for greater recognition in the region. Last month, the Kurds in neighboring Iraq saw their recent territorial gains erased by the Iraqi military, which seized the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and other disputed areas from the Kurdish regional government in retaliation for a Kurdish independence referendum that the U.S. ardently opposed.

Trump's decision appeared to catch both the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department off guard. Officials at both agencies, who would normally be informed of changes in U.S. policy toward arming the Syrian Kurds, said they were unaware of any changes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was unclear whether the Trump administration notified the Kurds of the move before telling the Turks. Nor was it how much significance the change would have on the ground, considering the fight against Islamic State is almost over.

The United States has been arming the Kurds in their fight againstIslamic State through an umbrella group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which is comprised of Kurdish as well as Arab fighters. But the retreat of Islamic State, which has lost nearly all its territory in Syria, has altered the dynamics in the region and a U.S. defense official said he was unaware of any additional arms scheduled to be transferred to the Kurds, even before the Turkish announcement.

Last week, Col. Ryan Dillon, the chief spokesman for the U.S. coalition that is fightingIslamic State in Iraq and Syria, said there has yet to be any reduction in the number of U.S. advisers working with the SDF. His comments appeared to suggest the possibility that changes in the level and type of U.S. military support for the Syrian Kurds could be coming.

As the fight againstIslamic State has waned in recent months, the U.S. has pledged to carefully monitor the weapons it provides the Kurds, notably ensuring that they don't wind up in the hands of Kurdish insurgents in Turkey known as the PKK.

Both Turkey and the U.S. consider the PKK a terrorist group. But the United States has tried to draw a distinction between the PKK and the Syrian Kurds across the border, while Turkey insists they're essentially the same.

In both Syria and Iraq, the U.S. relied on Kurdish fighters to do much of the fighting against IS, but those efforts have yet to lead to a realization of the Kurds' broader aspirations, most notably an independent state.

Washington's support for the Syrian Kurds, in particular, has been a major thorn in U.S.-Turkish relations for several years, given Turkey's concerns about the Kurds' territorial aspirations. In particular, Turkey has feared the establishment of a contiguous, Kurdish-held canton in northern Syria that runs along the Turkish border.

Relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United States have also soured recently over a number of other issues, including Turkey's crackdown on dissent following a failed coup attempt last year. Ankara has also demanded that the U.S. extradite a Pennsylvania-based cleric that it blames for fomenting the coup, but the U.S. says Turkey lacks sufficient proof.

Read this article:
Trump tells Erdogan U.S. will stop arming Kurdish fighters in ...

Published time: 22 Nov, 2017 15:41 Edited time: 23 Nov, 2017 14:19

An all-Syrian congress which will see wide representation of the countrys opposition is to be held in Sochi, Vladimir Putin said after talks with the Turkish and Iranian presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani, who backed the idea.

The presidents of Iran and Turkey supported the initiative to convene an all-Syrian forum-congress of the national dialogue in Syria. We agreed to hold this important event at the proper level and ensure the participation of representatives of different sectors of Syrian society, Putin said after the talks in Sochi on Wednesday.

Weve tasked the Foreign Ministries, the representatives of special services and Defense Departments to work out the list of participants and the timing of the congress to be held here, in Sochi," the Russian president added.

Read more

The all-Syrian congress is aimed at gathering delegates from various political parties, internal and external opposition, ethnic and confessional groups at the negotiating table, Putin said.

Success on the battlefield has paved the way for a new stage of the peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis, the Russian leader added.

In our common opinion, the success on the battlefield that brings closer the liberation of the whole of Syrian territory from the militants paves the way for a qualitatively new stage in the settlement of the crisis. Im talking about the real prospects of achieving a long-term, comprehensive normalization in Syria, political adjustment in the post-conflict period, Putin said.

The Russian president also said that he and his counterparts see the potential for a long-term, comprehensive political settlement in Syria. The talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi lasted two hours, with Putin saying that they were detailed and included all aspects of the Syrian settlement.

Putin said that he informed Erdogan and Rouhani about the results of his talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, which took place in Sochi on Monday. He added that he told the Turkish and Iranian presidents about the commitment of the Syrian leadership to the principles of peaceful settlement of the political crisis, its readiness to carry out constitutional reform and stage a free, UN-supervised election.

Link:
Putin, Erdogan & Rouhani agree on holding Syrian national ...

Andrew Brunson, from North Carolina, is in a Turkish prison on terrorism charges that his family calls "totally false." Courtesy of American Center for Law and Justice hide caption

Andrew Brunson, from North Carolina, is in a Turkish prison on terrorism charges that his family calls "totally false."

It's been nearly a year since Turkey detained American pastor Andrew Brunson and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says if the U.S. wants Brunson freed, it should extradite an elderly Turkish cleric living in the U.S., whom Erdogan accuses of organizing last year's failed coup attempt.

"Erdogan has voiced frustration with American demands for more evidence pointing to Gulen's involvement in the coup effort," NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul.

Peter relays Erdogan's words in a speech at a police academy Thursday: "You have a pastor too," Erdogan said, adding, "You give us that one and we'll work with our judiciary and give back yours."

Brunson's case has been called a priority for President Trump's administration. Vice President Mike Pence has written to Brunson's family; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Brunson's wife, Norine, in Ankara in March. Tillerson also discussed the case with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Brunson, 48, is an evangelical Presbyterian from North Carolina who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades. He was arrested last October during the crackdown that followed a military faction's attempt to overthrow Erdogan in July. Since then, he's been accused of being part of an armed terrorist group; one month ago, he was charged with espionage and attempting to overthrow the government.

The cleric Turkey wants to get its hands on is Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic scholar in his late 70s who lives in a compound in Saylorsburg, Pa., in the Pocono Mountains.

"Gulen, who is said to have millions of supporters in Turkey, has steadfastly denied any responsibility for the coup," NPR reported in July of 2017, "but Turkey is demanding his extradition from the U.S., where he has lived since the late 1990s."

Speaking to NPR earlier this year, Gulen denied being behind the coup attempt.

"To this day, I have stood against all coups," Gulen said. He added, "if I were to humor that idea, if any one among those soldiers had called me and told me of their plan, I would tell them, 'You are committing murder.' "

When asked about Turkey's attempt to extradite him, Gulen said, "I think the United States is mindful of its reputation for its democracy and rule of law, and if they are willing to risk that reputation by extraditing me based on the request and claims made by Turkey, I would never say no. I would go willingly."

He also spoke about what his final wish would be if he were to be condemned to die: "I would say the person who caused all this suffering and oppressed thousands of innocents, I want to spit in his face."

More:
Turkey's Erdogan Suggests Swap: Jailed U.S. Pastor For ...

Published time: 18 Nov, 2017 03:34 Edited time: 18 Nov, 2017 07:36

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Washington of betraying Ankara and providing "a lot of dollars" to the Islamic State terrorists. The allegation comes just days after the US acknowledged that it allowed hundreds of armed ISIS militants to escape the besieged Syrian city of Raqqa.

"That's the headline. But what did you do? You paid a lot of dollars to [ISIS]," Erdogan said, as cited by AFP.

Its not the first time Erdogan has called out Washington for enabling terrorists. Last December, the Turkish president caused quite a stir in the media, claiming that Turkey had confirmed evidence, with pictures, photos and videos, of the US supporting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS, ISIL) and Kurdish militias, outlawed as terrorist in Turkey.

Read more

Erdogan's comments come just days after the BBC revealed on Monday that the US-backed SDF allowed hundreds of ISIS militants to escape Raqqa with the silent approval of their coalition allies that preferred not to intervene. Truck drivers interviewed by the BBC said they were offered thousands of dollars to secretly transport ISIS fighters and tons of weapons and ammunition out of the city. At the time of the exodus, neither SDF, nor the coalition acknowledged their involvement in the deal, reportedly struck by local officials mid-October.

When confronted by the BBC, US-led coalition spokesman Col Ryan Dillon admitted that a Western officer was present as the deal was being arranged, but didnt take an active part in the talks, he told the BBC. While the extent of the US involvement in the deal is up to speculation, Dillon noted that part of the agreement was to allow the coalition to screen the ISIS-aged males and civilians. However, only four foreign fighters were detained by the SDF from some 3,500 people, 300 of which were identified as potential ISIS fighters, Dilon said.

READ MORE:Erdogan slams US for arming terrorists after Washington cancels $1.2mn Turkey weapons deal

Then on Tuesday,Moscow accused US forces of refusing to carry out airstrikes against ISIS convoys retreating from the eastern Syrian city of Abu-Kamal. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that it twice asked the US-led coalition to strike the convoys with the US side categorically refusing to do so, the ministry said, attaching photos purportedly showing ISIS convoys leaving the city unhindered.

Aside from sparing the ISIS militants, the coalition warplanes have also been hampering the Russian Air Forces operation in support of the Syrian military, the ministry claimed, noting that in accordance with the prior agreement the coalition aircraft should not have been flying in the area.

Read more

This is hardly the first time Moscow has accused Washington of tolerating ISISs presence in Syria. In September, Russias Defense Ministry has released aerial images allegedly proving that US Army special units provide free passage for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) through the battle formations of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists.

The Turkish president also slammed Washington for its ongoing support of Kurdish groups fighting in Syria despite promises that they would be withdrawn from liberated cities.

"It was a big disappointment for us that America has not kept its promises, to a large extent, since the start of the Syrian crisis," said Erdogan, claiming that the previous US administration pledged to not let YPG fighters to take Raqqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor.

"We don't want to enter into the same game in Afrin. A problem that we could solve quite easily together as allies is being dragged out by American intransigence," he added, as cited by AFP.

READ MORE:Turkey's Erdogan: 'Confirmed evidence' US-led coalition supports ISIS & other terrorists in Syria

Disagreements over the status and future of Syria's Kurds have strained relations between Ankara and Washington. Turkey views the Kurdish YPG militia, which is backed by the US-led coalition, as a terrorist organization.

Washington has stressed that while its aware of Turkeys security concerns, its policy of arming the Kurds is necessary to ensure a clear victory in Raqqa.

Ankara claims that the US-backed YPG is not fighting ISIS in Raqqa but instead aiming to capture the city and engaged in regional cooperation with the so-called caliphate.

More recently, Erdogan has warned that the Turkish military may intervene to close the "terrorist corridor" in Syria's Afrin region, which borders Turkey and is currently controlled by Kurdish groups.

Read the original:
Erdogan accuses US of financing ISIS, breaking promises in ...

U.S. President Donald Trump heaped praise on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday, comments that came amid international condemnation of Erdogans crackdown on political dissent and just months after Turkish security officials beat up protesters during a visit to the U.S.

Trump said it was a great honor to host Erdogan Thursday for a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said that the Turkish president "is becoming a friend of mine" and that he is running a very difficult part of the world.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Donald Trump on Sept. 21.

Photogrpaher: Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

"Frankly hes getting very high marks, Trump said, sparing Erdogan any public admonition over international concerns about election violations and human-rights abuses. "Hes also been working with the United States, Trump said. "We have a great friendship and the countries -- I think were right now as close as weve ever been. Trump added that "a lot of that has to do with a personal relationship."

After a failed coup last year, Erdogan gained sweeping powersin April after a close referendum that critics alleged was fraudulent. A Council of Europe agency has put Turkey on its watchlist, saying crackdowns on opponents have compromised human rights and the rule of law. Erdogan also has detained or fired thousands of people under suspicion they were part of the coup attempt.

Turkeys army has been fighting Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish militants in northern Syria. Erdogan, speaking this week at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, said Turkey is prepared to send more troops into Syria. Still, Erdogans government increasingly has been working with Russia and Iran on stabilization efforts that may bolster President Bashar al-Assad.

With assistance by John Micklethwait, Selcan Hacaoglu, Firat Kozok, and Onur Ant

More here:
Trump Praises Erdogan for High Marks Amid Crackdown ...