Fighting people

Last week, turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his american counterpart Donald Trump. Home of turkish leader has returned virtually empty-handed: he has failed to win concessions on any important issue. Perhaps the most unpleasant for Erdogan was that he failed to convince Trump not to provide military equipment to the fighting in Syria, kurds. "Ribbon. Ru" understood why the support of the kurds for the United States is more important than the request of a partner of NATO, and how this situation will affect the relations between Ankara and Washington. Useless conversation"The mountain gave birth to mouse" — this saying by a famous turkish journalist cengiz chandar was going to comment on the results of Erdogan's visit to the United States.

However, he did not succeed: the recognition of chandara, the mountain gave birth to nothing. The conversation between the two leaders lasted 22 minutes (including time for translation), and the final press conference- less. The most memorable episode of the visit was the fight at the turkish embassy in the us: Erdogan's guards, apparently forgetting that they are not at home, and in a free country, attacked a rally of opponents of the turkish leader, injuring 11 people (including an american police officer). No less sternly spoke at the press conference Erdogan. "In the future [syrian] region is not designated terrorist organizations. Talking about the pyd (kurdish party "Democratic union" — approx.

"Of the tape. Ru"), and ypg (the military wing — ed. "Of the tape. Ru"): their stay in the region will meet the conditions of our comprehensive agreement," he warned. While Erdogan was read out this statement on a piece of paper, Trump, judging by his bored mind was thoughts somewhere far away. Meanwhile, it is the policy of Erdogan has largely led to the fact that the United States in the fight against the terrorist group "Islamic State" (ig, is prohibited in russia) began to rely on the kurds. The rise of kurdish znamenitostyami 2014. Ig at the peak of its power.

Hordes of bearded islamists stormed the syrian city of kobani, nearly two years under the control of the ypg. These cars protected from the fire of the front part of smertniki use such armored vehicles, the ISIS break-building, as a rule, followed by bomb "Istishhad-mobiles" with smartdocuments combat vehicles with welded on steel plates they break through the fortifications, go into battle bombs "Istishhad-mobiles". But the kurds are facing death. They know what awaits them in case of defeat, the men executed, women sold into sexual slavery, children are brainwashed and will try to make them suicide bombers. Fleeing from the horrors of war, hundred of thousands of refugees from kobani to cross the border into nearby Turkey. Ankara "Peace-niks" skips, leads to the border of the tanks, but to interfere in no hurry — indeed, does not prevent the turkish kurds to help their brethren in syria. Turkey has its own interests in the country, there is a creeping kurdish uprising, the kurdistan workers ' party (pkk) is officially considered a terrorist, and Ankara ypg battle with ISIS — battle of the spiders in the bank. To help bleeding kobani comes us president barack obama. In mid-october, the kurds from the air down drugs and ammunition, according to the agreement between Washington and Ankara through turkish territory in the war zone are moved to fresh combat units of the Iraqi kurds. Further — more, the american planes start ironing the positions of the islamists, and in three months the jihadists stop the siege of kobani. A chance for Turkey this time on the table, Erdogan bear a message from us partners: Washington offers Ankara to allow us combat aircraft to turkish bases and to jointly train syrian opposition fighters to combat ISIS with air support in both countries.

Americans believe that by creating alternative antiepilepsy force without the support of the kurds, they will respect the turks. But Turkey, again our interests, and Erdogan wants to not only defeat ISIS, how the overthrow of syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Besides, he expects that if there is no conflict with ISIS, and they seek war with Turkey will not. Because he makes the americans counter-proposal: create a no-fly zone over the syrian provinces of aleppo and idlib. According to the idea of Erdogan, there is moderate opponents of Assad will be able to regroup and relax, without fear of retribution from the air. The United States is not satisfied, because in this case they would have to be drawn into a full conflict with damascus, and in the future — with its patrons, Russia and Iran. Kurdish of levv conditions, when Erdogan focused on his game, the Pentagon had to rely on the most capable force fighting the Islamic State, the kurds.

In the spring of 2015 the kurds and their arab allies, successfully attacking, take the tel abyad (important border point) and establish control over almost the entire syrian-turkish border except stokilometrovy. 20 jul crashes hope Erdogan to maintain a relationship with the ig in the style of "Neither war nor peace". Jihadists carried out a terrorist attack in the border town of suruç, killing 33 people. Two days later, the turkish leader calls obama: from now on the airfield in incirlik available for United States air force, work has begun on a joint training antiepilepsy parts on earth. However, the interests of Washington and Ankara are not the same. For example, Erdogan seeks not just to liberate one hundred km section from the city of manbij from ig, but not to allow that he was under the control of the kurds.

For americans it is important to dislodge the jihadists from the city, so Washington proposed to use for this purpose an efficient kurdish part. Erdogan was strongly opposed: this would allow the kurds to seize the whole of the border and combine their cantons, laying a prototype of their own state. He assures us that he has thousands of syrian fighters that turned the bayonets in manbij. Ankara managed to collect several hundred armed men from the ranks of the salafi groups, the opposition to Assad and syrian turkmen. In april 2016, they even took a few villages before they routed jihadists regroup. The americans again had to rely on the kurds, who by this point has teamed up with the arab allies under the title "The democratic forces of syria" (dss, in the West known as sdf). 12 aug dss after months of bloody fighting and thousands of dead on both sides still captured manbij.

Erdogan was furious: obama promised him that the kurds took the city, go to the east of the euphrates, closer to kobani, but some parts of the ypg decided to stay. Late sitesporno survived the attempted coup, the turkish president went on the offensive on the syrian track: august 24, began the operation "Shield of the euphrates". Loyal to Ankara the syrian opposition with the support of turkish tanks steel roller rolled across the North of syria. The americans had great difficulty in time to take part manuja from ypg and to avoid large-scale clashes. Washington has offered turks air support and intelligence, and six months later, "Shield of the euphrates" ended with the capture of the strategically important town of al-bab. In the North of Syria was established under the control of the turkish area of two thousand square kilometers. Destroy, destroy urogastrone on the agenda is the liberation of raqqa — the capital of the "Islamic State".

According to Washington, the main role in strangling the enemy in his lair must play dss. Turkey disagrees: in her view, the role antidiureticheskogo ram can take on are involved in "The shield of the euphrates" part. The Pentagon sees this as a problem: under the banner of dss costs about 50 thousand men and 27 thousand kurds of ypg and 23 thousand arabs. The number of pro-turkish units barely 10 thousand. But strength is not the only problem: to deploy a "Shield of the euphrates" in the direction of raqqa, fighters will have to go through kurdish territory, or through the lands controlled by damascus and its Russian allies. After analyzing the situation, the administration Trump made the decision to arm the kurds for an attack on Islamic State's capital. In the hands of fighters of dss (in fact ypg) fall 120-millimeter mortars, machine guns and light armored vehicles. The decision has expectedly caused the dissatisfaction of Ankara.

"We cannot accept the presence in the coalition of terrorist organizations that threaten the future of the turkish state. We hope that the us administration will reconsider its decision," said turkish deputy prime minister nurettin canikli. 18 may it became known that Turkey decided to refrain from participating in the assault on raqqa. Washington, Ankara and badusername for a whole heap of problems accumulated in relations between Ankara and Washington, the present conflict between them should not wait. As told "Lente. Ru" director of the center for political-military analysis at the hudson institute, expert of the international discussion club "Valdai" richard weitz, both countries will make every effort to maintain allied relations. "It has always been.

During the cold war, Turkey and the United States disagreed over cyprus and on several other issues, but rather focus on the soviet threat. Despite differences over Syria, from the point of view of geopolitics, it is more profitable to stick together," he explained. I agree with him, the turkish analyst serkan demirtas. "Turkey openly expressed its displeasure over the reluctance of the us to break with the ypg, but stressed that relations with Washington are multifaceted and very important, he said. — in addition, the us promised that ypg will not control the arab raqqa".

According to him, Washington has assured Ankara that supports the territorial integrity of Syria and the independence of the kurdish formations will not support. "The United States understands the concerns of Turkey and is trying to reassure its NATO ally. Relationship, of course, will not be broken, but because of Washington's decision will be cooled," concluded demirtas.