ANKARA: The Trumpadministration dispatched its top officials to Turkey yesterday for emergencytalks to try to persuade Ankara to halt an assault on northern Syria, whileRussian troops swept into territory abandoned by Washington in a suddenretreat. Robert O'Brien, White House national security adviser since lastmonth, arrived in Turkey aiming to meet Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusogluyesterday.
Vice PresidentMike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are expecting to meet thefollowing day with President Tayyip Erdogan. The administration is trying tocontain the fallout from Erdogan's decision to send forces last week to attackSyrian Kurdish militia that were Washington's close allies. Erdogan repeatedhis insistence there would be no ceasefire, and said he might call off a visitto the United States next month because of the "very big disrespect"shown by US politicians.
He also denouncedthe United States for taking the "unlawful, ugly step" of imposingcriminal charges against a Turkish state bank over allegations it brokesanctions on Iran. The Turkish assault, launched after a phone call betweenErdogan and Trump, has forced Washington to abandon a strategy in place for fiveyears and pull its troops from northern Syria.
It has spawned ahumanitarian crisis, with 160,000 civilians taking flight, a security alertover thousands of Islamic State fighters abandoned in Kurdish jails, and apolitical maelstrom at home for Trump, accused by congressional leaders,including fellow Republicans, of betraying loyal US allies, the Kurds. Syriangovernment forces, backed by Washington's adversaries Russia and Iran, havemeanwhile taken advantage of the power vacuum left by retreating US troops toadvance swiftly into the largest swath of territory previously outside theirgrasp.
Washingtonannounced a package of sanctions to punish Turkey on Monday, but Trump'scritics said the measures, mainly a hike in steel tariffs and a pause in trade talks,were too feeble to have an impact. Twenty-four hours later US prosecutors'charges were unveiled against Turkey's majority state-owned Halkbank for takingpart in a multi-billion dollar scheme to evade Iran sanctions. Washington saysthe case is unrelated to politics. Halkbank denies wrongdoing and called thecase part of the sanctions against Turkey.
US 'show offorce'
The Turkishadvance, and Washington's need to swiftly evacuate its own forces, have broughtthe two biggest militaries in NATO close to confrontation on the battlefield.Washington has complained about Turkish artillery fire near its troops. In thelatest potential flashpoint, US military aircraft carried out a "show offorce" over the border city of Kobani after Turkish-backed fighters cameclose to American troops there, a US official said.
Pence saidErdogan had promised Trump by phone that Turkey would not attack Kobani, astrategically important border city where US forces first came to the aid ofKurds against Islamic State, which massacred Kurdish civilians there in 2014.Erdogan said he had not broken his promise to Trump: "Mr Trump's remark onKobani was 'Don't strike there'," Erdogan told reporters late on Tuesday."We said that we had only done an encircling operation there at themoment."
Land rush
Washington'shasty exit has created a land rush between Turkey and Russia - now theundisputed foreign powers in the area - to partition the formerly US-protectedKurdish area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors theeight-year Syrian war, said yesterday Russian troops had crossed the EuphratesRiver to advance to Kobani's outskirts.
Lebanon'sAl-Mayadeen TV reported that Russian-backed Syrian forces had also set upoutposts in Raqqa, the one-time capital of Islamic State's caliphate, which theKurds captured in 2017 at the peak of their campaign with US support. Hoursafter Washington announced its pullout on Sunday, the Kurds, who lost thousandsof fighters waging battle against Islamic State in a five-year alliance withthe United States, made an abrupt deal with Washington's adversaries, theRussian- and Iranian-backed government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia-backedSyrian troops have swiftly moved into towns across the breadth of theKurdish-held area, including the city of Manbij, a major target of Turkey whichUS forces said on Tuesday they had quit. Reuters journalists travelling withSyrian government forces on Tuesday entered Manbij and saw Russian and Syrianflags flying from buildings near the city. Russian state television reportedyesterday that Syrian government forces had occupied bases abandoned by UStroops.
Erdogan, who isdue in Moscow later this month, said he had told President Vladimir Putin thatRussia could move forces into Manbij, provided that the Kurdish YPG militia wascleared out. "I told this to Mr Putin as well," Erdogan said."If you are clearing Manbij of terrorist organizations, then go ahead, youor the regime can provide all the logistics. But if you are not going to dothis, the people there are telling us to save them."
'No ceasefire'
Erdogan saysTrump approved his plans for a "safe zone" around 30 km inside Syria,stretching hundreds of miles from the Euphrates river in the west to the Iraqiborder in the east. Trump says he did not endorse the Turkish plans butWashington cannot stay to police the Middle East. "They say 'declare aceasefire'. We will never declare a ceasefire," Erdogan told reporters ona plane back from a visit to Azerbaijan late on Tuesday. "They arepressuring us to stop the operation. They are announcing sanctions. Our goal isclear. We are not worried about any sanctions," he said.
The Turkishcampaign shows no sign of abating on the ground, with most of the fighting sofar around two border cities, Ras Al Ain and Tel Abyad. A Reuters cameraman inthe Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar reported the sound of heavy gunfire justacross the frontier in Ras Al Ain, which Turkey's Defense Ministry had earliersaid its forces controlled.
Although USsanctions announced by Trump so far were seen by markets as mild, the caseagainst its second biggest state lender Halkbank was a reminder that Turkey'seconomy could be vulnerable to measures that hit its financial system. The chargesagainst Halkbank stem from a case that has caused friction in US relations withTurkey for years. Shares of Halkbank plunged as much 7% yesterday, despite aban on short selling.- Reuters