David Petraeus: "US-Turkish relations revolve around Syria"

Turkey played an important role in the region during the Cold War, and today this role becomes central, ex-CIA chief David Petraeus said today during the 53rd Munich Conference, the head of the European Office of Vestnik Kavkaza Orkhan Sattarov reported.

Speaking about recent disagreements between US and Turkey, Petraeus recalled about his meetings with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hakan Fidan, who heads the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), in 2011-2012: "It was unclear whether US President Barack Obama (who said that Assad must go) will fulfill his promise, will there be enough resources. You could feel the tension, doubt, caution in the US actions, there was a very tough rhetoric. The initial US ground resources program was not fulfilled. There was dissatisfaction over the 'red line'."

He noted that "all of this continued even after the Americans started the fight against Daesh, made significant progress in consolidating Iraqi security forces, trained them, equipped, helped them with intelligence. It intensified interaction between the intelligence services, although there were some problems during and after battles."

According to the former head of CIA, US-Turkish relations revolve around Syria: "The United States helped Syrian Kurds, who fought against Daesh in the north-eastern and northern Syria, but also cooperated with the PKK, which we (the US and Turkey) recognize as a terrorist organization. So it became another source of confrontation."

Today, according to Petraeus, US want to defeat Daesh as soon as possible, which requires greater involvement in Syria: "It's time to stop the bloodshed in Syria, while continuing negotiations on the final political status. The main thing we should do is understand how to do it. I think Turkey proposed great recommendations and they will be studied very seriously. I hope there will be a time when our interests coincide, and each side will use additional resources in order to stabilize the situation. First of all, it is necessary to stop the bloodshed, and then we can discuss how Syria will move forward in general."

He also emphasized the need for cooperation between the European Union and Turkey on refugees issue: "This is extremely important for Europe from strategic point of view. This wave of refugees resulted in number of serious political challenges for the EU, which could lead to its collapse. The first rule when we're talking about refugees is to create conditions so that they were able to stay in their country. If it's impossible, then there's second rule - place them as close to their countries as possible. Turkey was able to accomplish this."

David Petraeus expressed hope for stabilization of relations between Ankara and Washington: "The events of July 15 in Turkey became the key factor. It was seen as a 'Turkish 9/11'. We must help our ally in this situation. Progress on the battlefield, which was achieved by the previous US administration, will now be strengthened and we will be able to achieve even more constructive partnership. We can expect that our relationship will become stronger and better."

Commenting on the possibility of Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, Petraeus said: "US withdrawal from this agreement depends on whether something better will be offered or not. If the US will indeed withdraw from this agreement without any apparent violations by Iran, it will isolate the US, not Iran. We must be very careful. I think that [US Secretary of Defense James] Mattis and others, including the President, understand it."