Can the US and Turkey bridge their differences over the Kurds?
While Turkey considers the SDF a threat to its security, the US backs the group, its main ally against ISIL.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned he’s lost his patience with the United States over the establishment of a safe zone in northeast Syria.
And Erdogan says he will order an offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
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The Turks consider the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces a “terrorist” organisation and want to protect their border with a buffer zone.
But US troops are there.
And the Pentagon has warned against any Turkish incursion against its Kurdish ally in the battle against ISIL.
So, what’s at stake for the Kurds in Syria?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra
Guests:
Marwan Kabalan – Syrian political analyst and head of policy analysis at Arab Center for Research
Barin Kayaoglu – Professor of world history at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani
Joshua Landis – Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma and editor of Syria Comment blog
Published On 7 Aug 2019