Bolton: US-Turkey Talks on Syrian Kurds Will Continue Next Week

Bolton claims Turkey has committed to not harming Kurds

After a week of unsuccessful efforts surrounding US-Turkey negotiations, National Security Adviser John Bolton has reported that the US and Turkey will hold additional talks on Syrian Kurds next week.

Bolton said that he, President Trump, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are all under the impression that Turkey has already committed “not to harm the Kurds who had fought with us against ISIS.” That, however, would mean the Kurdish YPG, which is the exact faction Turkey is invading to attack.

Bolton says that the plan is military-to-military talks next week to come up with more “assurances” form Turkey about what will actually happen and how. Turkish officials have repeatedly been very clear on this, saying there are no concessions to make on the YPG.

Indeed, Turkish officials have repeatedly rebuked Pompeo and Bolton on this matter, and President Erdogan refused to meet with Bolton during his last visit. Erdogan also presented the claims the YPG had really helped the US as a “huge lie,” while other Turkish officials have accused the US of making excuses to prevent their invasion. Bolton attempted to present the US pullout as on hold until concessions were made, though the military has clarified that this isn’t the case.



Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.