Turkey’s Erdogan speaks with Trump about Syria, warns of possible clash with Kurdish fighters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he spoke with President Trump about northeastern Syria, where he said he could launch a new operation against U.S-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters at “anytime,” The Associated Press reported.

Erdogan allowed that he had been given “positive answers” from President Trump on the situation in northeastern Syria when the two spoke by phone Friday, and that Turkey is waiting for the United States to keep its promises.

Turkey has vowed to launch a new offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militia that the U.S. equips to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Erdogan said that the Turkish army has completed preparations and planning for such an attack.

Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist group due to its connection to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish insurgency within the country.

Syrian Kurds are hoping to create an autonomous region in northeast Syria – which Turkey seeks to prevent – and now control around 30 percent of the country’s territory,

Erdogan did not give further details on his conversation with Trump. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Washington and Ankara last summer reached an agreement over the town of Manbij, near the southern Turkish border. Under the deal, Kurdish militia would leave the town and Turkish and American troops would jointly patrol the area. Turkey has accused the United States of stalling on the plan.

“I call on those openly sponsoring terrorists in the region: You’re doing wrong, give it up,” Erdogan said, according to AP. “Those who strung us along for years in Manbij and who have now made us certain promises regarding east of the Euphrates must deliver on those promises.”

The Syrian government, meanwhile, also opposes a Kurdish autonomous region.

Asked about what Washington is doing to prevent Turkey from launching an offensive, U.S. special envoy for Syria James Jeffery said Monday that the U.S. “at every level has reached out to the Turks,” and he himself spent three days in the region for talks earlier this month.

“We understand its concerns, we’re committed to Turkey’s security and we’ve been talking extensively to the Turks,” Jeffery told attendees at an Atlantic Council forum.

“We have to wait and see. I believe that the situation has calmed some what, I believe that we’re willing to work with the Turks and people on the ground to find a way forward. … We’re very focused on Turkish security but we also are very focused on finishing the fight against ISIS. We’re going to be, again, managing this and monitoring this very closely.”