Turkey appears to snub US over Syria’s Kurds

ANKARA, Turkey — A senior US official trying to negotiate the safety of Kurdish allies in northeastern Syria is apparently rebuffed by Turkey’s president who says there would be “no concession” in Ankara’s push against “terror” groups in the war-torn country.

White House national security adviser John Bolton meets for roughly two hours with his Turkish counterpart Ibrahim Kalin and other senior officials at Ankara’s presidency complex on Tuesday but gets no assurances on the safety of Syrian Kurdish allies — a condition for US President Donald Trump’s planned withdrawal of US troops from northeastern Syria.

Bolton relays Trump’s insistence that Turkey refrain from attacking Kurdish forces that fought alongside US troops against the Islamic State group, a guarantee Turkey appears unwilling to grant.

“They had a productive discussion of the President’s decision to withdraw at a proper pace from Northeast Syria,” spokesman Garrett Marquis says in a statement, adding that direct military to military talks would continue Tuesday.

Shortly after Bolton’s meetings and in an apparent snub to the US diplomatic push, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara’s preparations for a new military offensive against terror groups in Syria are “to a large extent” complete.

“We cannot make any concessions,” Erdogan says, and also slams Bolton over comments suggesting the United States would prevent attacks on Kurds.

— AP