No coherent U.S. policy towards the Kurds - analyst

In pursuing four separate policies towards the Kurdish movements of four different countries, Washington is sacrificing coherent strategy for tactical gains, former U.S. State Department Middle East Analyst Gregory Aftandilian wrote for Arab Weekly.

“Although the United States is op­posed to the Iranian government, there is no evidence that Wash­ington has been inciting Iran’s Kurds against Tehran, even though most Kurds are Sunni Muslims,” he said.

In Iraq, however, the United States has been supporting Kurdish autonomy for more than two decades, while in Syria it has been a major backer of the Kurdish separatist People’s Protection Units (YPG).

But in Turkey, the YPG’s sister-movement, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has become a major source of friction between Ankara and Washington.

“U.S. Presi­dent Donald Trump reportedly assured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on November 24 that the United States would cease arming the YPG,” Aftandilian wrote. “It appears that Washing­ton is trying to preserve its assets in Syria while seeking to mollify the Turks.”

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