Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar also said that the joint coordination centre for the US and Turkey is expected to start working in the coming days. At the same time, the Turkish minister stressed that Ankara would not tolerate delay in this matter and called on the United States to stop supporting the Kurdish “People’s Protection Units” (YPG) in Syria. According to Akar, if the United States does not comply, then Ankara has alternative plans for Syria.
Abdullah Ağar, a former military agent of the Special Forces Command of the Turkish Armed Forces, an expert in the field of security and counter-terrorism, a participant in military operations in Syria, has spoken about what alternative plans Turkey has.
“Turkey’s main concern is the threat of creating a terrorist quasi-state entity in the region, which could lead to the dismemberment of Syria and, in the medium and long-term, of Iraq and Turkey itself”, the expert noted.
“We see that America is exploiting this concern. Meanwhile, Ankara, as it were, warns Washington: if the agreements reached are not implemented, we have alternative options that involve a set of instruments of a geopolitical, strategic, tactical, and operational nature. Today, you are putting pressure on Turkey to achieve your goals, but subsequently this double play will result in grave consequences for you, as it will lead to a change in Turkish geopolitical preferences”, he said.
“The main US strategy in Syria is, on the one hand, to use the Kurdish forces of the YPG and PKK for their purposes, and, on the other, to develop cooperation with Turkey that is beneficial to Washington. Meanwhile, such a two-faced policy will have serious consequences. Currently, the problem for Turkey is not only being face to face with America in Syria; the issue now lies in the plane of geopolitical preferences and priorities. How long can such a two-track situation in relations with the USA continue? This question is now very often raised in Turkey. Today the 70-year-old alliance between Turkey and the United States is transforming and acquiring new dimensions, and it carries several contradictions. In the current period, we are witnessing the collapse of a multidimensional US policy, and the phenomena we are experiencing today are painful echoes of this process”, Ağar concluded.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.