- Joined
- Sep 20, 2016
Turkey has called for the removal of the US diplomat coordinating an international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq, accusing him of backing Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Ankara regards the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group, which has been fighting a decades-old armed campaign in southeast Turkey and is considered a "terrorist organisation" by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, said on Thursday he wanted Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition, removed from his post.
"McGurk is definitely giving support to PKK and YPG. It would be useful if this person was replaced," Cavusoglu told the private NTV television.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Geneva where a new round of United Nations-backed Syria talks is currently under way, said Cavusoglu's comments were "definitely significant".
He added, however, that "it was still early to call this a diplomatic rupture" as it was still unclear what Ankara's next moves would be.
Jamjoom said that Turkish officials had been critical of McGurk in the past, accusing him of being too supportive towards the Kurds.
Erdogan visits US in bid to stop arming of Kurdish fighters in Syria
"That has angered the Turks on many occasions - but this is different," he said. "This is ratcheting up the rhetoric ... at a time that is fraught with a lot of tension and there is such a concerted effort to defeat ISIL.
"The question now becomes what more is Turkey prepared to do to put pressure on the US."
Doruk Ergun, a security policy analyst, said Cavusoglu's comments did not represent an official request from Ankara, but rather "an airing of Turkish frustration".
"Turkey initially hoped that with the incoming administration, [ex-President Barack] Obama-era policies would be replaced," he told Al Jazeera from Istanbul.
"This shows that Turkey' hopes were misplaced ... and displays Turkey's frustration with the Trump administration, which very much continues the Obama administration's policies on Syria."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/mevlut-cavusoglu-brett-mcgurk-removed-170518091315806.html
Ankara regards the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group, which has been fighting a decades-old armed campaign in southeast Turkey and is considered a "terrorist organisation" by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, said on Thursday he wanted Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-ISIL coalition, removed from his post.
"McGurk is definitely giving support to PKK and YPG. It would be useful if this person was replaced," Cavusoglu told the private NTV television.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Geneva where a new round of United Nations-backed Syria talks is currently under way, said Cavusoglu's comments were "definitely significant".
He added, however, that "it was still early to call this a diplomatic rupture" as it was still unclear what Ankara's next moves would be.
Jamjoom said that Turkish officials had been critical of McGurk in the past, accusing him of being too supportive towards the Kurds.
Erdogan visits US in bid to stop arming of Kurdish fighters in Syria
"That has angered the Turks on many occasions - but this is different," he said. "This is ratcheting up the rhetoric ... at a time that is fraught with a lot of tension and there is such a concerted effort to defeat ISIL.
"The question now becomes what more is Turkey prepared to do to put pressure on the US."
Doruk Ergun, a security policy analyst, said Cavusoglu's comments did not represent an official request from Ankara, but rather "an airing of Turkish frustration".
"Turkey initially hoped that with the incoming administration, [ex-President Barack] Obama-era policies would be replaced," he told Al Jazeera from Istanbul.
"This shows that Turkey' hopes were misplaced ... and displays Turkey's frustration with the Trump administration, which very much continues the Obama administration's policies on Syria."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/mevlut-cavusoglu-brett-mcgurk-removed-170518091315806.html