Arab Analyst:

Erdogan Feels Fooled by US, Allies

Rasa - Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, underlined Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's anger with his allies, specially the US, and said he believes that they have fooled him to damage Turkey with the help of the Syrian Kurds.

News ID: 429639

Date: 14 May 2017 - 20:47

RNA - "These days Erdogan is angry with his allies and foes, including the US, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Israel and even Greece. Hardly a country can be found that Turkey is satisfied with," Atwan wrote on Sunday.

Noting that Erdogan has become disappointed at the Americans, he underlined that they have left him alone and humiliated him after 60 years of Ankara's services to the NATO.

Atwan referred to US President Donald Trump's support for the Kurds and their equipment with tanks, armored vehicles and advanced missiles, and said this means formation of a powerful core in the Kurdish army which can advance even to the Turkish-Syrian borders and threaten Turkey's territorial integrity and demography.

The United States, Turkey's ally within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), announced last Tuesday the approval of its plan to arm Kurdish forces fighting ISIL terror group in Syria despite objections from Turkey.

Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey expects its allies to support the country and not terrorist groups, media reports said.

"Every development in Syria and Iraq is a matter of national security for us. We would like to believe that our allies will prefer to side with us and not with terrorist organizations," Erdogan said.

The Turkish president expressed hope that the United States would suspend its decision to arm the Syrian Kurds before his visit to the country for the talks with US President Donald Trump scheduled for May 16.

Erdogan noted that he would express his concern over the situation during the meeting with Trump, as well as the summit of NATO, which is planned to take place on May 25.

According to the Turkish leader, the fight against ISIL "should not be carried out with the help of another terrorist organization."

Turkey and the United States disagree on the US support of Kurdish forces in Syria as Ankara considers them connected to Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is outlawed as a terrorist organization by Ankara. In 2015, Turkey started a military operation against PKK in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkish regions.

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