Spare_change
Gold Member
- Jun 27, 2011
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President Barack Obama’s decision to work with questionable Kurdish elements in the fight against the Islamic State has effectively left the U.S.-Turkey alliance in tatters, and America’s adversaries are seizing upon the opportunity to try to sever the partnership completely.
The loss of Turkey as U.S. partner was most clearly exhibited when Russian, Turkish and Iranian diplomats met in Moscow in December to discuss a solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria. A U.S. presence was noticeably, and intentionally, absent. The meeting added insult to injury after Syrian rebels were forced to surrender the city of Aleppo to government forces just days before.
Turkey’s decision to pursue tighter relations is a remarkably new phenomenon born out of Obama’s missteps in the fight against ISIS. Just over a year ago, it appeared that Russia and Turkey were on the brink of war, after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter that drifted into its territory. Today, the two countries are remarkably close.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s dangerous Islamist politics do not mesh with U.S. interests, the Obama administration’s insistence on supporting left-wing Kurdish militia groups has caused remarkable strain in the U.S.-Turkey alliance. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units, also known as the YPG, are Syrian Kurds who allied together to fight ISIS after the group’s rise in 2013 and 2014. YPG units typically serve as a militia group, but they also have ties to the far left Democratic Union Party of Syria, also known as the PYD. The YPG is a convenient stand-in for the Obama administration in its fight against ISIS, given that they allow the president to avoid putting large amounts of U.S. boots on the ground, which he promised to prevent while campaigning in 2008.
Losing Turkey: How Obama Alienated A Key NATO Ally |
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Just another in a long list .....
The loss of Turkey as U.S. partner was most clearly exhibited when Russian, Turkish and Iranian diplomats met in Moscow in December to discuss a solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria. A U.S. presence was noticeably, and intentionally, absent. The meeting added insult to injury after Syrian rebels were forced to surrender the city of Aleppo to government forces just days before.
Turkey’s decision to pursue tighter relations is a remarkably new phenomenon born out of Obama’s missteps in the fight against ISIS. Just over a year ago, it appeared that Russia and Turkey were on the brink of war, after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter that drifted into its territory. Today, the two countries are remarkably close.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s dangerous Islamist politics do not mesh with U.S. interests, the Obama administration’s insistence on supporting left-wing Kurdish militia groups has caused remarkable strain in the U.S.-Turkey alliance. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units, also known as the YPG, are Syrian Kurds who allied together to fight ISIS after the group’s rise in 2013 and 2014. YPG units typically serve as a militia group, but they also have ties to the far left Democratic Union Party of Syria, also known as the PYD. The YPG is a convenient stand-in for the Obama administration in its fight against ISIS, given that they allow the president to avoid putting large amounts of U.S. boots on the ground, which he promised to prevent while campaigning in 2008.
Losing Turkey: How Obama Alienated A Key NATO Ally |
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Just another in a long list .....
