{"id":14403,"date":"2018-12-17T20:29:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T20:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/17\/erdogan-positive-answers-in-call-with-trump-but-says-turkey-could-act-against-us-backed-syrian-kurds-anytime\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:25:10","slug":"erdogan-positive-answers-in-call-with-trump-but-says-turkey-could-act-against-us-backed-syrian-kurds-anytime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/17\/erdogan-positive-answers-in-call-with-trump-but-says-turkey-could-act-against-us-backed-syrian-kurds-anytime\/","title":{"rendered":"Erdogan: Positive answers in call with Trump, but says Turkey could act against US-backed Syrian Kurds \u2018anytime\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ISTANBUL \u2014 Turkey\u2019s leader said Monday he received \u201cpositive answers\u201d from President Donald Trump on the situation in northeastern Syria, where Turkey has threatened to launch a new operation against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/12\/turkey-vows-military-operation-against-us-backed-kurdish-militia-in-syria\/\" target=_blank>American-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkey has vowed to launch a new offensive against the People\u2019s Protection Units, or YPG, which is the main component of a U.S.-allied force that drove Islamic State militants out of much of eastern Syria. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/11\/21\/the-us-military-is-putting-brand-new-observation-posts-in-northern-syria\/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. troops are based in the area<\/a>, in part to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/24\/us-troops-in-syria-take-take-fire-from-turkish-proxy-fighters\/\" target=\"_blank\">reduce tensions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist group because of its links to the Kurdish insurgency within its territory. Ankara views Washington&#8217;s support as empowering of the Kurdish militia, which is seeking an autonomous region in northern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not elaborate on his conversation with Trump. The two leaders spoke by phone Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/13\/us-backed-syria-kurds-say-fight-against-islamic-state-threatened-by-turkey\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1068995098.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US-backed Syria Kurds say fight against Islamic State threatened by Turkey<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The main Syrian Kurdish-led militia warned on Thursday that threats by Turkey\u2019s president to launch a new military operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria will negatively impact their fight against the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Erdogan said Turkey is waiting for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/11\/06\/turkey-joint-us-kurdish-patrols-in-syria-are-unacceptable\/\" target=_blank>U.S. to keep its promises<\/a> but could launch a new offensive \u201canytime.\u201d He said the Turkish army has completed preparations and planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two countries reached an agreement last summer over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/07\/syrian-kurdish-leader-no-turkish-or-allied-forces-in-manbij\/\" target=\"_blank\">town of Manbij<\/a>, whereby the Kurdish militia would leave and Turkish and American troops jointly patrol the area. Turkey says the U.S. has stalled on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/09\/30\/turkey-accuses-us-of-failing-to-abide-by-deal-on-syrian-town\/\" target=\"_blank\">implementing the agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I call on those openly sponsoring terrorists in the region: You&#8217;re doing wrong, give it up,&#8221; Erdogan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;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,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"920\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18351491452160.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18351491452160.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18351491452160.jpg.jpg?resize=300,230 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18351491452160.jpg.jpg?resize=768,589 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18351491452160.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,785 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Turkey&#8217;s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a rally in Konya, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018. (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Syrian government, like Turkey, is opposed to Kurdish aspirations of setting up an autonomous region. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said the government was willing to negotiate with the Kurds but won&#8217;t accept calls for a federal or autonomous region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;There is no alternative to returning to the nation, which has its arms open to all. The state&#8217;s decision is restoring sovereignty to every inch of territory,&#8221; he told a group of university students in Damascus on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/13\/us-backed-fighters-resume-final-offensive-against-isis-after-pause-to-deal-with-turkish-tensions\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4614342.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US-backed fighters resume final offensive against ISIS after pause to deal with Turkish tensions<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are returning to the battle against the Islamic State following a pause to deal with clashes between their northern troops and Turkey.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kurdish forces control around 30 percent of Syria&#8217;s territory, mostly in the oil-rich eastern region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Moallem also said Turkey and Western countries are to blame for the delay in forming a committee to draft a constitution, which the U.N. and the U.S. see as key to ending the seven-year civil war. The 50-member committee is intended to represent the government, the opposition and civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Syria\u2019s government says it will only accept amendments to the constitution despite an agreement at the start of the year which called for a new draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Turkey\u2019s leader said Monday he received \u201cpositive answers\u201d from President Donald Trump on the situation in northeastern Syria, where Turkey has threatened to launch a new operation against American-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,92,93,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1350],"class_list":["post-14403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S5F7YT7FKBFLVBVW7ABGKD6G64","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/17\/erdogan-positive-answers-in-call-with-trump-but-says-turkey-could-act-against-us-backed-syrian-kurds-anytime\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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