(PresidentialHill.com)- The Biden administration is weaving a tangled web as they try to toughen up their language against NATO ally Turkey, according to The Western Journal. Administration officials are reportedly trying to talk Turkish President Recep Erdogan out of striking against American-allied Kurdish forces in neighboring Syria.
Kurdish forces, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, have reportedly worked with the United States to confront threats from the Islamic State militias in northern Syria since 2015. They have been successful in their efforts and regained territory from the extremists, in addition to detaining thousands of Islamic fighters.
Six people were killed in an Istanbul bombing on November 25 that Turkey is blaming on the United States and Kurdish forces in Syria. Two American citizens were among the two who were killed. Since then, Turkey has launched cross-border airstrikes almost daily into U.S. and Kurdish-patrolled areas of Syria, causing numerous deaths.
U.S. forces have stopped patrolling with the Kurds in northern Syria as the Kurds move their attention to Turkey’s airstrikes, although they have recently continued limited patrols of a detention camp.
Many are now reportedly calling for de-escalation talks by the United States, but as Erdogan continues his bombardment without any signs of backing down, the U.S. is beginning to strengthen its rhetoric.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed his “strong opposition” in a call to his Turkish counterpart. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also addressed the issue for the first time last Friday as Erdogan threatens to send in troops into Syria.
The tension between Turkey and the U.S. comes as the latter wants Turkey to agree to Finland and Sweden joining NATO to present a unified front against the aggression of Russia in Ukraine.
Omer Taspinar, an expert on Turkey and European security at the Brookings Institution and the National War College said that ISIS has been forgotten since the invasion of Ukraine, adding that another terrorist attack in Europe or the United States will “remind people that we actually have not defeated ISIS.”
