Turkey's defence minister said on Thursday the new U.S. administration has a more flexible approach to Syria and is not insisting on the Kurdish YPG militia being involved in the operation to drive Islamic State from its Raqqa stronghold.
“If we want the Raqqa operation to be successful it should be carried out with Arab forces in the region, not the YPG,” Fikri Işık told reporters in Brussels, referring to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia.
"The new U.S. administration has a different approach to the issue. They are not insisting anymore that the operation should definitely be carried out with the YPG. They haven't yet made up their minds," he said.
U.S. support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance dominated by the YPG, has caused tensions with Turkey, which views the Kurdish militia as an extension of armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants fighting on its own soil. With air strikes and special ground forces from the U.S.-led coalition, the SDF is in the middle of a multi-phased operation to encircle Raqqa.
Ankara hopes the YPG militants will retreat from Manbij before Turkey has completed its offensive in al-Bab, Işık said, recalling that the Syrian Kurds have not yet withdrawn from the region but Turkey is ready to head to Manbij and Raqqa after the al-Bab offensive has ended. "We are working with the U.S. on the withdrawal of the YPG from Manbij by the time the al-Bab operation is completed," Işık said.
Işık also said U.S. chief of staff Joseph Dunford would visit Turkey on Friday.
'COALITION WILL PROVIDE MORE SUPPORT'
For his part, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis issued assurances that the U.S.-led coalition will provide more support to Turkey’s Euphrates Shield Operation during his first meeting with Işık late on Feb. 15 on the margins of a NATO summit in Brussels, according to Turkish officials.
At the NATO meeting in Brussels, Işık also met counterparts from Spain, Italy, the U.K. and France.
