US-Turkish Alert After Failure to Untangle ‘Kurdish Knot’

As soon as talks held between US Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Ambassador James Jeffrey and Turkish officials in Ankara failed to untangle the Kurdish knot represented in the fate of the YPG north Syria, both sides made quick field escalations near the Syrian-Turkish borders.

Observers said that Washington and Ankara boosted their forces’ readiness and allied factions at the cross-lines near Manbij in northern Aleppo and on both sides of the Syrian-Turkish border.

The last round of talks held by Jeffrey with officials at the Turkish Foreign Ministry over the safe zone in northeast Syria uncovered the depth of the gap between the positions of Washington and its allied SDF forces from one side and Ankara from the other side.

The dispute is mainly related to the establishment of a safe zone in northeast Syria, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed to his US counterpart Donald Trump.

Recent US-Turkish talks revealed that several knots remained unsolved concerning the depth of this zone and the fate of the Kurdish units, mainly the SDF and their heavy weapons.

Washington and Ankara also failed to reach any progress related to the roadmap in Manbij, which is for the area to be cleared of the YPG, for heavy arms to be collected, and a local administration to be formed.

Early this week, a meeting was held in the city of Ain al-Arab between SDF leader Mazlum Abdi and a US delegation to mainly discuss the security situation at the joint border with Turkey, common coordination, future cooperation between the SDF and the anti-ISIS coalition and the exchange of views with the Global Coalition.