US tells Turkey: only ISIS a target, not the Kurds

[Anthea]

Turkey says if US wants Kurds at peace talks, might as well invite Islamic State

As Turkey and the US wrangle over Kurdish participation, Syrian opposition backs peace talks

If the United States wants to invite Kurds to the forthcoming Syrian peace talks it might as well invite the Islamic State (IS) group, said the foreign minister of Turkey, whose country views Kurdish fighters in Syria as extremists.

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG), have been Western allies in the Syrian conflict but are condemned by Turkey, which will co-host the peace talks in Kazakhstan with Russia set for 23 January.

Turkey calls the PYD a "terror group" for its links to Kurdish separatist militants in Turkey and has blasted the US repeatedly for working with the group on the ground in Syria.

A comment by a US State Department spokesman this week that Washington believes the PYD will "have to be a part of this process... at some point" infuriated Ankara.

BREAKING: US State Department says Kurdish PYD militia must be a part of Syria peace talks

— The Int'l Spectator (@spectatorindex) January 12, 2017

"If you are going to invite a terror group to the table then you might as well invite Al Nusra and Daesh," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters, referring to the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, known previously as Al-Nusra Front, and IS.

"We do not deny the US role and contribution (to the talks), but we expect the following from the new US administration: It must stop co-operating with terror groups," he said.

"The current (US) administration is making serious mistakes," he said.

It was not the first diplomatic spat over the heated Kurdish issue this week.

A US Central Command tweet insisting its Kurdish allies were not linked to outlawed militants whipped up a storm on Thursday, with Ankara asking if Washington had "lost its senses".

Relations between the US and Turkey have become increasingly bitter in the last month, with Ankara expressing hope of a "new chapter" under President-elect Donald Trump.

While Washington has played a key role in attempts to bring Syria's warring parties to the negotiating table in the past, it has been notably absent from the cooperation between Ankara and Moscow to broker a nationwide ceasefire that is meant to pave the way for the 23 January peace talks.

Despite backing opposite sides in the Syrian conflict, Russia and Turkey are keen for a deal to end the conflict and both sides appear to think Trump's administration could help.

Russia has invited Trump’s incoming administration to attend the Syria peace talks in Astana on Jan. 23, report sayshttps://t.co/yN50GMqCsd

— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) January 14, 2017

The Astana talks are scheduled to begin just three days after Trump is inaugurated.

Donald Trump's transition team said on Saturday it had been invited to the Russia-backed talks. "We have been asked to attend," Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told AFP, suggesting no RSVP has been given.

A representative for the Syrian Kurds said that they had not been invited to take part.

Opposition backs talks

The Syrian political opposition said on Saturday that it supports planned peace talks in the Kazakh capital.

"Concerning the forthcoming meeting in Astana, the [High Negotiations] Committee stresses its support to the military delegation ... and expresses hope that the meeting would reinforce the truce," an HNC statement said after a two-day meeting in Riyadh.

The HNC also expressed hope that the meeting would "establish a phase of confidence" through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, especially articles concerning ending sieges of cities and towns, delivering aid and releasing detainees.

#Turkey #MIT forces #Syria rebels to unanimously back, attend #Astana peace talks. 'Attend or borders will be shut, supplies cut off'

— Riam Dalati (@Dalatrm) January 14, 2017

The HNC said it "appreciates efforts" to make the Astana talks fruitful, adding that the meeting represents a step that "paves the way for political talks" in Geneva next month.

The statement, which did not clarify whether the HNC has been invited to the Astana talks, stressed that "discussing the political track ... should be held under the UN sponsorship and supervision".

The HNC is the main Syrian opposition umbrella group and participated in previous peace talks in Geneva.

The ceasefire and planned talks are the latest effort to negotiate an end to a conflict that has killed more than 310,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turke ... e-99566347

[Anthea]

US Assistant Secretary of Defense tells Turkey:
only ISIS is a target, not Kurds
Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Acting US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Elissa Slotkin, said the only target for the US-led coalition is ISIS, and not the city of Manbij that has been cleared from ISIS by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Turkish officials have warned they would attack the SDF forces in Manbij after they capture Syria’s northern city of al-Bab from ISIS.

“We are all about hitting ISIS where there is ISIS. If there’s no ISIS, that’s not our mandate,” Slotkin told reporters in Washington on Saturday. “So that is an important distinction. We have always made it in any kind of conversation we’ve been having with any ally on Syria,” she said.

The American official also denied that the US told Turkey that they will not provide support to the Turks in al-Bab, if the Turkey-backed rebels and Turkish soldiers attack Manbij.

“But I am not aware of any conditionality, any kind of quid-pro-quo,” she said. “We are having those conversations and there is support that’s being provided. Currently, liaison teams are working with the Turks every day.”

Turkey recently increased the number of its troops in Syria from 3,000 to 8,000 soldiers, after 14 Turkish soldiers were killed by ISIS near al-Bab.

“So obviously they’re having conversations about al-Bab, about strategy and approach. We have provided some ISR support on al-Bab. We have, in areas north of there, provided ground forces and the whole suite of air support,” Slotkin said. “So those are the kinds of things that we’re talking about sort of on an hourly basis with the Turks.”

The US official said there are now 50,000 SDF forces that fight ISIS in northern Syria. “That’s a big number and that is not the number it was a year ago. And the theory of the case that as you liberate new areas for ISIS, people did not like living under ISIS and they volunteer,” she said.

“So we have seen that borne out, and even since the Manbij operations, frankly, we’ve seen a significantly larger number of Arabs come into the fight [side by side with the Kurds]. So I think it’s about 50 percent at this point is sort of Arab-Turkoman, the whole host of other folks besides the Kurds, and I think that’s a pretty healthy number given the importance of the coming fight in Raqqa, which is an Arab town,” she stated.

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs further said that the United States would support agreements between Russia and Turkey on Syria. “I think that’s a positive thing. Anything that helps promote transparency and safety is better than not.”

Meanwhile, Nicholas Heras, a Washington-based Middle East researcher at the Centre for a New American Security, told ARA News that the SDF-held city of Manbij is strategic for the aspirations of the Turkey-backed rebels. “Manbij is the key staging point for a future campaign against Raqqa for [Turkey-backed] Euphrates Shield rebels. If the Turks gain control over Manbij via their Syrian proxies, it would mean that Turkey, not the SDF, would be in a position to assault Raqqa.”

“The Turkish military wants the United States to send special forces and advisers to embed with its proxy Syrian groups. The U.S. wants to see whether the Turkish military can execute the operation on Al-Bab as the primary military actor,” he said.

“The Turks are having grave difficulties because Turkish airpower and advisers do not have the same high level of coordination with their Syrian proxies as the U.S. military has with the [Kurdish-led] SDF,” Heras told ARA News.

As a result, Turkey wants additional support from the United States.

“The Turks believe that the U.S. military is their silver bullet to vanquish ISIS in al-Bab, which is the key to solidifying a future safe zone in northern Syria that is controlled by Turkey. There are high stakes for the Turks in al-Bab,” he concluded.

http://aranews.net/2017/01/us-assistant ... not-kurds/