US withdrawal must not leave authority gap in Syria: Turkey
Akar said Shanahan agreed the US and Turkey should avoid a delay in the implementation of their “Manbij roadmap” – agreed in late 2018 – to conduct joint and separate patrols around the northern Syrian city where US troops are based, Anadolu reports.
The Turkish defense minister arrived in Washington on Friday.
Their meeting came a day after US President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack on his initial decision to withdraw all 2,000 US troops currently stationed in Syria and instead maintain a force of “hundreds”.
Turkey has not commented on the US decision, having applauded its earlier plan to fulling withdraw.
Akar and Shanahan discussed a “broad range of issues, including bilateral defense cooperation matters, operations to defeat Daesh in Syria and Turkey’s concern with US support for the YPG/PYD, the Syrian branch of the PKK,” according to a readout from Turkish Defense Ministry on Saturday, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group (ISIS).
Acting Secretary Shanahan said in a tweet: “I am confident our discussions today will strengthen US-Turkey relations for the future.”
The NATO allies are at odds over the future of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which spearheaded the ground war against ISIS. The US wants to maintain support for the force, which includes both Kurds and Arabs, while Turkey considers it a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey sees the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the backbone of the SDF – as a threat to its security.
The US Department of State said the Akar-Shanahan meeting was organized to “reaffirm the defense relationship” between their countries.
“The leaders discussed a broad range of defense issues, including operations to defeat ISIS in Syria and the United States’ concern with Turkey’s potential purchase of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system. They agreed to continue cooperating to achieve stability and security in northeast Syria,” the State Department said in a statement.
Ankara purchase of the Russian-made S-400 system has threatened its deal with the US to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets. The deal is pending the approval of Congress.
