Tillerson’s Turkey visit: Will it assist mend ties?

US Secretary of Relate Rex Tillerson visited Turkey twice in the end of his first year in region of job, nonetheless his third outing due next week could also nicely be the biggest.

Turkish-US family had been strained in the end of old college President Barack Obama’s tenure. Some observers enlighten they’ve easiest change into worse in the end of President Donald Trump’s administration – and they fear the NATO allies could also conflict militarily in Syria.

Tillerson’s mission is to slash relieve the tensions.

Take care of Obama earlier than him, Trump is backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on legend of their success in reclaiming territory once held by the Islamic Relate of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, additionally identified as ISIS) armed community.

That has angered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The SDF is an umbrella community of opponents led by the People’s Protection Devices (YPG) – a Kurdish riot community view about a « terrorist community » by Ankara.

Erdogan mechanically accuses Washington of undermining his country’s security by supporting Kurdish opponents interior Syria, refusing to extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen for allegedly plotting a failed coup try in Turkey in 2016 and for by no intention seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

More worrisome for the US, Erdogan launched « Operation Olive Department » in unimaginative January, sending his forces into the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin in utter to prevent YPG rebels from taking retain an eye on.

He is now threatening to ship his troops east to Manbij, the keep the SDF and US troops are securing town from ISIL opponents.

The US does not want that to happen, and Tillerson will repeat that message in the end of his meetings.

On Friday, a senior enlighten division grand told reporters: « We are urging them to fee restraint in their operations in Afrin, and to fee restraint additional alongside the line in the end of the border in northern Syria. »

« We must work with the Turks extra to identify a capability if there could be a capability that we can – that we can work with them to address their authentic security considerations whereas, on the same time, minimising civilian casualties and above all else retaining every thing centered on the fight in opposition to ISIL, which is never over, » the grand stated.

But analysts enlighten, on this outing, it be extra main for Tillerson to listen than to discuss.

Senior policy analyst Nicholas Danforth, of the Bipartisan Protection Heart, told Al Jazeera he turn into cautiously optimistic.

« I proceed to deem that on either aspect, sanity will prevail; that either aspect will realise the hurt they’ll suffer from a breakdown of the US-Turkish relationship, the NATO alliance, will almost definitely be catastrophic, and as a outcome of this truth they’ll handbook certain of challenging steps, » he stated.

« But again, rhetorically, on the ground, you grasp either aspect working themselves into positions that will almost definitely be increasingly extra complicated to relieve down from. »

That truth will originate Tillerson’s third visit to Turkey one to see.