Aboard a US military aircraft: Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Thursday he had “no doubt” that Turkey and the US would work out any differences arising from Washington’s decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria.
That decision, announced Tuesday, has led to public statements of anger from Turkey, which says the US-backed Kurdish YPG fighters battling Daesh in Syria are linked to its own domestic Kurdish separatist group the PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party.
“I have no doubt that Turkey and the United States will work this out with due considerations, significant attention paid to Turkey’s security to NATO’s security and the continuing campaign against ISIS (Daesh),” Mattis said.
Mattis’ remarks to reporters traveling with him followed an approximately 30-minute meeting in London with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the highest-profile face-to-face conversation between US and Turkish officials since the announcement.
“We agree 100 percent with Turkey’s concern about PKK, a named terrorist group. It is conducting an active insurgency in Turkey, it has orchestrated the killing of innocent Turkish civilians and Turkish soldiers, and we support Turkey in its fight against PKK as a fellow NATO member, just like all the NATO countries stand with Turkey against the PKK,” Mattis said.
“We do not ever give weapons to the PKK, we never have and never will.”
YPG fighters backed by US-led coalition airstrikes and training have carried out much of the ground war against Daesh in Syria, and have recaptured a series of towns and villages in the country’s north.
The focus is now on Raqqa, the de-facto Syrian capital of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate.”
The city is largely surrounded and it is only a matter of time before YPG and other forces in a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance launch an offensive against the city.
A first consignment of US weapons is already in place for delivery and could be dispatched to the Kurds “very quickly,” US Col. John Dorrian said Wednesday.
Mattis and Yildirim met ahead of the start of a Somalia conference in London.
“I would characterize it as the usual sort of honest, transparent and helpful discussion between two long-term NATO allies on issues that directly impact the security of the NATO alliance, directly impact the security of Turkey and how we work out the way ahead in regards to the continued offensive against ISIS (Daesh),” Mattis said.
US has no doubt differences with Turkey will be resolved
US has no doubt differences with Turkey will be resolved
Trump warns Iran of ‘very traumatic’ outcome if no nuclear deal
- Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened Iran Thursday with “very traumatic” consequences if it fails to make a nuclear deal — but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was skeptical about the quality of any such agreement.
Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month” from Washington’s negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
“We have to make a deal, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don’t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters.
“This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don’t make a deal.”
Trump — who is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to pressure Iran — recalled the US military strikes he ordered on Tehran’s nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in July last year.
“We’ll see if we can get a deal with them, and if we can’t, we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them,” Trump said.
Netanyahu had traveled to Washington to push Trump to take a harder line in the Iran nuclear talks, particularly on including the Islamic Republic’s arsenal of ballistic missiles.
But the Israeli and US leaders apparently remained at odds, with Trump saying after their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he had insisted the negotiations should continue.
- ‘General skepticism’ -
Netanyahu said in Washington on Thursday before departing for Israel that Trump believed he was laying the ground for a deal.
“He believes that the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time when they didn’t reach an agreement, may create the conditions for achieving a good deal,” Netanyahu said, according to a video statement from his office.
But the Israeli premier added: “I will not hide from you that I expressed general skepticism regarding the quality of any agreement with Iran.”
Any deal “must include the elements that are very important from our perspective,” Netanyahu continued, listing Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s not just the nuclear issue,” he said.
Despite their differences on Iran, Trump signaled his strong personal support for Netanyahu as he criticized Israeli President Isaac Herzog for rejecting his request to pardon the prime minister on corruption charges.
“You have a president that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said on Thursday.
Trump has repeatedly hinted at potential US military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on protests last month, even as Washington and Tehran restarted talks last week with a meeting in Oman.
The last round of talks between the two foes was cut short by Israel’s war with Iran and the US strikes.
So far, Iran has rejected expanding the new talks beyond the issue of its nuclear program. Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, and has said it will not give in to “excessive demands” on the subject.
