'Bolton made serious mistake'
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President Tayyip Erdogan yesterday rebuked Washington's national security adviser for demanding that Turkey does not harm Kurdish fighters in Syria, accusing him of complicating US President Donald Trump's plan to withdraw US troops.
The development came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday arrived in Jordan on a Middle East tour to show commitment to the region.
Erdogan said John Bolton, who met Turkish officials in Ankara yesterday but left Turkey without holding expected talks with the president, had "made a serious mistake" in setting conditions for Turkey's military role after the US pull-out.
Trump said last month he was bringing home the some 2,000 US troops in Syria, saying they had succeeded in their mission to defeat Islamic State and that Turkey would take over the final stages of the military campaign.
His abrupt move sparked concern among officials in Washington and allies abroad and prompted Defence Secretary Jim Mattis to resign. It also alarmed the Kurdish YPG militia which has been Washington's main ally against Islamic State in Syria, but is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara.
Before arriving in Turkey, Bolton had said that Turkey must coordinate military action with the United States and that no US withdrawal would take place until Turkey guaranteed the Kurdish fighters would be safe.
However, Erdogan said Turkey would confront the YPG in the same way that it will take on Islamic State. "If they are terrorists, we will do what is necessary no matter where they come from," he told a members of his AK Party in parliament.
He said YPG's fight with Islamic State in Syria was "a huge lie.
"Bolton has made a serious mistake and whoever thinks like this has also made a mistake. It is not possible for us to make compromises on this point."
Turkey had reached a clear understanding with Trump over the withdrawal plans, but "different voices have started emerging from different segments of the administration," Erdogan said.
Later Erdogan's spokesman said that Turkey would not seek permission to carry out any operation in Syria, although it is willing to coordinate with allies.
Ibrahim Kalin made the comment at a news conference after he met Bolton.
Pompeo, on his longest trip since taking the post last year, pledged that the Islamic State group would not be allowed to regroup following a string of battlefield defeats.
But in a stark reminder of the lingering threat, a war monitor reported that the jihadists had killed 32 US-backed fighters in a counterattack in eastern Syria aimed at defending their last bastion.
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