Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar called the US offering rewards for the capture of PKK militants a “very, very late step,” and demanded that the US follow this up by cutting all ties with the Syrian Kurdish group, the YPG.
The YPG and PKK deny having any formal ties, but Turkey has long claimed that the YPG is effectively a wing of the banned PKK, and has claimed that makes them “terrorists.” They have long demanded the US cut ties with the YPG.
The US considers the PKK terrorists, but is closely allied with the YPG. Turkey’s Erdogan government says their current hostile stance toward the YPG will not be changed simply to meet US expectations.
Turkey has attacked the YPG recently in northeastern Syria, and has threatened more attacks. On Wednesday, Turkish officials reported they exchanged fire with, and killed, a single YPG militant. They say the YPG fighter fired first.
What unites nations is interest: what divides them is interest. The pattern of history shows this incontrovertibly. The Turkish-US division over Washington’s support for the YKP in Syria is but one more example. The Kurdish group is Marxist-Leninist, yet serves America’s interest in its fight against IS. Ankara sees the same Kurds as terrorists, fearful of Kurdish separatist ambitions in Turkey itself.
Everything is about core interests and ultimately – survival. Power (manifested as interest) has been present in every conflict throughout history – no exception. It is the underlying motivation for war. Other cultural factors might change, but not power.
Interest cuts across all apparently unifying principles: family, kin, nation, religion, ideology, politics – everything. We unite with the enemies of our principles, because that is what serves our interest. It is power, not any of the above concepts, that is the cause of war.
It is the one thing we will destroy ourselves for, as well as everyone else. As a result every civilization/nation eventually gets the war it is trying to avoid: utter defeat. This applies as much today as any other time in history. Leaders and decision-makers delude themselves, thinking they can avoid their fate – they can’t. If survival is threatened, there is no alternative to war, however destructive.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Imagine that — Turkey giving orders to the “world leader” US, to cut ties with the YPG. Might sanctions be next? Actually that Kurd group has cut its ties with the US, abandoning the US (fake) battle against ISIS, to deal with . . .Turkey. Mission accomplished.
It’s a good thing the US pivoted to China (and Russia), it’s finished in the Middle East (and Afghanistan). US, pass the baton to Turkey and Iran while enjoying maneuvers in frozen Norway and the South China Sea. Both are a waste of time.