Raqqa conundrum could add to diplomatic tensions

TURKEY - In Brief 07 Mar 2017 by Atilla Yesilada
The Trump administration is yet to make an official pronouncement as to which partner it will choose to liberate ISIS capital Raqqa with. Yet, sullen statements from Turkish authorities and facts on the ground suggest that the decision has been made in favor of YPG, Turkey's Kurdish rival with firm links to PKK terror organization. With the presidential referendum race already very close, Ankara has already conjured up artificial conflicts with Iran and then Germany to fortify the flagging conservative-nationalist support. I fear being excluded from the Syrian game, it could turn its wrath to Trump with unpleasant consequences.Turkish Forces were shut out of Ankara's next target in Syria, the city of Manbij, as a coalition of Assad’s loyalists and Russian “peace keeping” forces took over the Western outskirts of the town, forming a buffer between pro-Turkish camp and the city. Then, American soldiers moved into the city to signal “that it doesn’t need liberating from any one”, a clear warning to Turkey that its forces should refrain from marching towards the city. Thelinked article in Washington Post claims that Pentagon recommend to Trump that Ankara’s third target, the ISIS capital of Raqqa be rescued with the help of more American troops and a coalition of Kurdish YPG and its Arab allies. While pro-AKP sources in the Turkish press largely concurred with this version of events, the ongoing summit between chiefs of staff of Turkey, Russia and the U.S. raised hopes that the alternative plan involving a coalition of Turkish brigades and their Arab allies in Free Syrian Army driving through Kurdish territory, to couple with Americans and Arabs down South to liberate Raqq...

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