Former CIA chief David Petraeus on late Friday said US-Turkey relations revolve around Syria.
"The US helped Syrian Kurds, who fought against Islamic State in the north-eastern and northern Syria but also cooperated with the PKK, which we [the US and Turkey] recognise as a terrorist organisation," Petraeus said at Munich Security Conference.
Speaking about the recent disagreements between US and Turkey, Petraeus labelled that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party's (PYD) armed wing, the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) as the "cousin" of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
“The U.S.' enabling of Syrian Kurds, who have been quite good fighters on the battlefield in northern Syria against Islamic State, but obviously they are cousins at the least with the PKK. So it became a source of confrontation,” he said.
Petraeus commented on the US-Turkey relations during Barack Obama's presidency. He said different approaches of Washington and Ankara on Syria and Obama’s reluctance to get involved in a military conflict to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were the major sources of tensions.
Petraeus reminded about his meetings with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hakan Fidan, who heads the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), in 2011-2012: "It was unclear whether US President Barack Obama (who said that Assad must go) will fulfill his promise, will there be enough resources. You could feel the tension, doubt, caution in the US actions, there was a very tough rhetoric. The initial US ground resources program was not fulfilled. There was dissatisfaction over the red line".
The former CIA chief said that there have been positive signals in spite of these conflicting topics. He said the relations between the two countries would likely be better under President Donald Trump administration.
“Turkey plays an absolutely central role now, and I think that would get even more important,” said Petraeus, adding senior figures from the Trump administration have already signalled closer cooperation with Ankara.
Petraeus also commented on Raqqa operation. "There is a great sensitivity according to the information I have, Raqqa is not a Kurdish city and therefore he can not be saved by the Kurds. According to the military concept, you should not save the land you cannot keep," Petraeus said.
BECAUSE OF THE WESTERN ALLIANCE, RUSSIA GAINED WEIGHT IN SYRIA
Meanwhile, Turkey's Defense Minister Fikri Işık said during the same conference that Russia has filled the gaps in Syria, caused by the Obama administration's inactivity very well, and said that the U.S. crossed mutually agreed on red lines in Syria between 2012-2013.
Işık said that Russia has gained weight in Syria because the western alliance has not taken the necessary steps on time.
Işık called PYD as a "terrorist organisation" and claimed that the PYD takes order from the PKK's administrators and tries to assert its dominance in the region.
