Turkey seeks U.S. support for IS offensive in Syria

Turkey is seeking U.S. support to lead a ground offensive against Islamic State’s main stronghold in Syria, a Turkish official said, a move that could give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more influence in the conflict and undermine Kurdish groups linked to separatists he’s fighting at home.

Troops and Syrian rebels loyal to Ankara would advance on Raqqa through areas controlled by Kurdish fighters whom Turkey classifies as terrorists, the official said. The attack could start within a month but hinges on U.S. support, which would include airstrikes and intelligence sharing, the official said.

A go-ahead by the Trump administration would bring an immediate gain for Erdogan by signaling that the U.S. no longer sees Kurds as an essential element in the fight against Islamic State, a view that has infuriated its NATO ally. Turkey, embroiled in a three-decade conflict with Kurdish separatists, regards Kurdish attempts to establish autonomy in northern Syria as a direct national security threat.

The proposal, however, may face opposition from people who still consider Kurdish fighters the most effective force against Islamic State in Syria, said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, who runs the Ankara office of the German Marshall Fund, a think tank.

“There are some people in Washington who think that PYD is more reliable compared to what Turkey is proposing on the ground,” Unluhisarcikli said by phone from Istanbul on Tuesday, using the acronym of the main Kurdish militant group in Syria.

After a flurry of terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic State, Turkey deepened its involvement in the Syrian war in August, sending troops across the border to create a so-called safe zone of 5,000 square kilometers.

Erdogan said on Tuesday in Istanbul that troops are on the verge of capturing the town of Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold. He’s also asked the U.S. to persuade Kurdish groups to withdraw from the border town of Manbij.

Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon called Turkey “a trusted ally,” saying the U.S. is regularly in contact with the Turkish government and military. But he said he had no information about Turkey’s proposal and couldn’t confirm if Turkey had asked the U.S. about it.