Is US seeking to exit entire Middle East?
The Turkish authorities cite the PKK and YPG as the main threats to the country’s national security
The Turkish government is taking a cautious approach to media reports that the US plans to withdraw its military contingent from Syria, while Ankara does see a general striving by Washington to exit not only Syria but the entire Middle East region, the Hurriyet newspaper writes.
Foreign Policy magazine reported earlier this week, citing sources in the State Department and Pentagon, that the White House is no longer interested in continuing the US mission in Syria, which it regards as unnecessary. There is a discussion in the US administration on when and how the troops may be withdrawn, although no final decision on the issue has been made yet, according to the publication. Later, the White House denied this information in a commentary to Al Arabiya television.
With no official statements made or specific steps announced, a reserved approach should be taken to reports on US plans to pull its troops out of the region, the Turkish publication wrote, citing sources in the Turkish Defence Ministry. At the same time, however, it is known that the US is considering such a move, Hurriyet said. “The US realizes that it has been dragged into the Middle Eastern quagmire by Israel and Iran, and that by offering full-throated support to Israel, particularly after the attack by Hamas [from the Gaza Strip] on Israel, it has effectively been caught in a trap. This process has begun spreading across the entire territory form the Red Sea to Pakistan. Given this, the US has started searching for ways to resolve [the problem],” Hurriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi wrote.
The Turkish authorities have repeatedly accused the US of favoring and providing help to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK, banned and declared a terrorist organization by Ankara) and its Syrian division, the People’s Defence Units (YPG), whose militants attack Turkish military posts in northern Syria and Iraq. Ankara claims that such a policy contradicts the ostensibly allied relationship between the US and Turkey.
The Turkish authorities cite the PKK and YPG as the main threats to the country’s national security. The Turkish army has been carrying out operations in northern Syria against Kurdish militants since 2015, and has maintained a large troop contingent on Turkey’s border with Syria.
