Hurriyet published an article by Murat Yetkin headlined 'Turkey-US at a Kurdish impasse.' "In the morning hours of February 7, Turkish news stations filed urgent stories saying that Francis Ricciardone, the U.S. Ambassador to Ankara, had been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The night before, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Parti) influential media spokesman Hüseyin Çelik had harshly criticized Ricciardone for his criticism of the prolonged and not clearly justified arrests of journalists, academics, and lawyers - including opposition members of the Turkish Parliament - in a press briefing on February 4. Many assumed that Ricciardone was going to face questions and perhaps a protest about his words on the Turkish legal system. Yet it was soon understood that Ricciardone had requested an appointment to talk to Foreign Ministry officials. Officially, he wanted to express his gratitude to the Turkish police for its efforts following the suicide bombing against the U.S. Embassy building in Ankara on February 1," the article reads.
"Ricciardone held nearly two hours of talks with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu. It was obvious that both sides had something to say to each other. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan is very sensitive about any criticism of the judicial process in Turkey, which puts the government in a difficult position not only in Turkey (Erdoğan himself being critical of prolonged arrests) but also in Western platforms. The first information following the meeting was that Sinirlioğlu had told Ricciardone not to get too involved in Turkish political affairs," the author writes.
"But there are other problems between the U.S. and Turkey nowadays too; But the real problem between the U.S. and Turkey nowadays is over relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq. The U.S. and Turkey have swapped positions on the Iraqi stage radically over the last four years; the change is on the axis of the Kurdish and energy issues. Up until 2009, Turkey was against even establishing relations with the KRG, on the basis that this may lead to an independent Kurdish state and disintegrate Iraq. Now, holding its own dialogue with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for a political solution to Kurdish problem, Ankara is taking the risk of being at odds with its major ally, the U.S., and is embracing the KRG," the article reads.
"It is not clear where the story is going to end up with, but it is clear that there is a Kurdish impasse between Turkey and the U.S. over Iraq," the author concludes.
