Preparing the battlefield to evict the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] from Raqqa, the U.S. and Kurds-backed Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] finds itself on a collision course with Turkey. Turkey sees anything Kurdish as its enemy, including the Kurdish Protect Units [YPD] a key part of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. With its long history battling the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] in Turkey and parts of Syria and Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants no part of the U.S.-Kurdish-led fight against ISIS. Erdogan sees YPD involvement as a prelude to Kurdish autonomy and eventual independence. Together with Syrian and Russian-backed fighters, SDF have helped cut off ISIS supply lines, leaving Raqqa isolated. Whether Turkey likes it or not, the SDF have helped Russian-backed Syrian forces recapture large swaths of ISIS held Syrian territory.

Meeting today with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kremlin to discuss Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to win Israeli backing keeping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power. Netanyahu let Putin know his concerns about the Iranian-baked, Beirut-based Hezbollah militia, taking greater liberties fighting along side the Syrian Army. Netanyahu finds himself in agreement with Putin on keeping al-Assad in power, something opposed by former President Barack Obama who backed the six-year-old Saudi proxy war to topple al-Assad. “The field in Syria at the moment is really very complicated,” said an unnamed Turkish official, recognizing the role the Kurds play in the U.S.-backed SDF’s efforts to retake Raqqa from ISIS. Turkey’s “Euphrates Shield” operation has seized Syrian land along its southern border to prevent the Kurds from establishing a state.

Expected to meet with Putin Friday, Erdogan hopes to get Russia to oppose any attempts by the Kurds to establish autonomy along the Turkish border. Erdogan sees Kurdish autonomy as threatening Turkey’s sovereignty. Despite a part of NATO, Turkey opposes U.S.-Kurdish efforts to defeat ISIS in Raqqa, Syria or Mosul, Iraq. Erdogan has difficulty accepting anything the Kurds do, even when it comes to liberating Raqqa from ISIS. Turkey wants the Kurds out of Manbij, a city captured from ISIS Aug. 6, 2016. “We will not allow the YPG’s canton dreams [to come true],” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish NTV, opposed to the Kurds establishing any autonomous territory. YPG officials deny that Manbij is a Kurdish-only area, sharing the city with U.S.-backed SDF, a mixture of Arab and Kurdish fighters. Erdogan has his own agenda with the Kurds in Syria, not fighting ISIS.

Calling for a 56-country ISIS conference in Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s spearheads the diplomatic, political and military effort to displace ISIS from Raqqa and Mosul. U.S. Centom Commander Gen. Joseph Votel praised the Kurdish involvement in the U.S.-led SDF coalition battling ISIS. Unlike Turkey that has no place for the Kurds, the U.S. finds the Kurds its most reliable military partner battling ISIS in Syria. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have helped the U.S. cut off ISIS’s main supply line to Raqqa, leaving Raqqa encircled. Unlike the Obama White House that sat on the fence with the Kurds, President Donald Trump has shown more solid backing for the Kurds. “It appeals that the Americans have made up their minds,” YPG officials Aldar Xelil told Reuters, referring to backing the strong role Kurds play in SDF battled to retake ISIS headquarters of Raqqa.

Unlike the April 10, 2003 fall of Baghad, Pentagon officials are busy planning what comes next after the SDF evict ISIS from Raqqa and Mosul. “Let’s say tomorrow Daesh [ISIS] is finished—and it will be—what about the political solution. Won’t they ask what is the solution? It needs a plan, and the most reasonable one is a federal one based not on ethnicity or religion but geography,” said Xelil, urging all parties to let the Kurds fill in the power vacuum. If former President George W. Bush had a plan for post-Saddam Iraq, the country wouldn’t have spiraled into anarchy. Well established in the hinterlands of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, the Kurds know how to maintain order, something badly needed once ISIS is expelled from Raqqa and Mosul. Speaking about coordinating with Turkey, Coalition spokesman John Dorrian didn’t rule out an eventual role for Turkey.

Trump’s Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis looks to back the Kurds’ current role as head-of-the-spear going into to Raqqa. Whatever issues Turkey has with the Kurds, it shouldn’t interfere with current operations to rid ISIS from Raqqa and Mosul. Adding 300 more U.S. special operation and more hardware in Syria, the U.S.-backed SDF look to complete its mission of evicting ISIS from Raqqa. Running afoul with what’s left of the Free Syrian Army [FSA], the U.S. wants Turkey to stay out of the way. Turkey backs the Saudi-backed FSA efforts to oust al-Assad, something opposed by Trump’s Pentagon. Faced with a bloody battle to evict ISIS from Raqqa and Mosul, Turkey should stop complaining about the Kurds and allow the U.S.-backed SDF to do what’s necessary to get rid of ISIS. Placating Turkey got Obama nowhere, only more anarchy and terrorism.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.