Inside Story

Can the US and Turkey find common ground over Syrian Kurds?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he won’t ‘compromise’ over Kurdish YPG fighters in northern Syria.

Many were caught off-guard last month when US President Donald Trump announced he would pull American troops out of Syria immediately.

But since then, his administration has sent conflicting messages about how and when that withdrawal will take place.

Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton has been in Turkey to seek protection for US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.

Turkey sees them as “terrorists”, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned he won’t compromise on the Kurdish issue.

So can the two sides find common ground?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Marwan Kabalan – director of policy analysis at the Arab Centre for Research & Policy Studies

Nicholas Danforth – fellow for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Program

Osman Sert – research director at the Ankara Institute and a former adviser to former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu