国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Turkey-U.S. cooperation expected to continue despite strained ties_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Turkey-U.S. cooperation expected to continue despite strained ties

The two countries would manage to reach a compromise as in the past, he said, maintaining that the image of a crisis in ties is actually misleading.

Both Koni and Uzgel believe the United States may say "yes" to a limited Turkish incursion into Kurdish-held territory, where Ankara would set up a buffer zone for its own security.

Such an operation, though limited, would play into the hands of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to the local elections in late March without essentially changing the status quo in the Kurdish-held territory, both analysts said.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has underlined Ankara's determination to eliminate the Kurdish militia, saying his country may start the operation in case the United States should take its time in withdrawing troops from Syria.

The United States has several thousand troops and over a dozen military bases in Kurdish-held areas in war-torn Syria.

Ankara originally threatened to launch the military offensive last month, but decided to put it off after U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.

Statements by top U.S. officials in the past week indicated, however, that Washington would withdraw troops only after making sure Ankara would not attack the Kurdish fighters.

In a sign of protest, Erdogan refused to meet with Trump's national security advisor John Bolton, who discussed Syria with other Turkish officials earlier this week in Ankara.