On Tuesday, Turkish jets struck positions belonging to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria and Iraq, killing about 70 Kurdish fighters, according to the Turkish military. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, and called on the international community to denounce what it described as an act of open aggression.
Political observers speaking to Sputnik warned that the airstrikes may be the prelude to a new Turkish ground operation in northern Syria and Iraq. Others noted that Tuesday's attack was shocking, given that the Kurds are seen as a major US ally in the fight against the terrorists.
Musa Ozuguru, a veteran Turkish journalist and political commentator, told Sputnik Turkey that appearances notwithstanding, Ankara is trying to align itself to get the cues for its Syrian policy from the White House.
"From the look of it, the actions of the Trump administration will determine President Erdogan's Syria policy in the coming period," Ozuguru said. "Turkey's leadership is presently experiencing big problems in relations with Europe, which is pushing it into strengthening cooperation with the United States."
Commenting on recent US efforts to establish some sort of agreement with Moscow in Syria, including possible zones of influence, Ozuguru emphasized the important role of the Syrian Kurds in this area.
"At the moment, Turkey and the US face a problem connected to the Kurdish Self-Defense Forces. At the same time, the room for maneuver has been significantly narrowed for Ankara. Turkey's leaders will take this factor into account, since Washington has a large number of trump cards against Erdogan."
For example, Ozuguru noted that whereas earlier, "the Turkish president said that Turkey is the main power in the region, without which other players cannot pursue their policy…after the constitutional referendum, this can no longer be discussed, it seems, because Erdogan has completely lost the support of the European section of the 'Western bloc'. Therefore, he is forced to push for maximum rapprochement with the United States."
At the same time, however, it's looking as though a more important priority for Ankara is to build up its relationship with the Persian Gulf countries, and with the US in its position on Iran. This, the expert noted, is quickly bringing Ankara to a fork in the road, where it will have to choose its partners.
"Anakra will have to choose between Iran and the countries of the Gulf, and ultimately, I think it will stay with the countries of the Gulf, who themselves are under the influence of the United States," the analyst said.
With this in mind, Ozuguru suggested that it must be admitted that Turkey's cooperation with Russia on the Syrian issue has always been limited in character, since Ankara's fundamental goal – removing Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, has never changed.
"Turkey's big goal has always been connected with the Assad's removal, and it never abandoned this policy. Erdogan attempted to use any pretext he could which, in his opinion, would bring him closer to achieving this goal," the analyst said.
"In principle, Turkey did not hide its position from Russia, and Moscow understands this perfectly," Ozuguru noted. "Therefore, Erdogan's statements following the US attack on the Syrian base were not a surprise for Russian leaders." Nevertheless, according to the analyst, Ankara's actions will prompt Moscow to reconsider its position toward Erdogan, in spite of its desire not to lose Turkey as a partner, in spite of any disagreements.
"In any case, the situation on this issue should become clearer in the near future, after Erdogan's visits to Russia and the United States next month," the analyst concluded.
